Red Roses and Bad Boys
by xXxVolpexXx
Summary: Ginny Weasley aka Rose Hallowell thought it would be fine, easy even, to survive in the time of the Marauder's. Only trying to keep everyone happy and at peace isn't going so well. Her mother had told her that stars brought luck but Sirius sure didn't.R
1. Rose

=One=

_Rose_

It's not a good day for Albus Dumbledore when one of his best students goes rogue. Being a kind and trusting old man may put him in favour with most people but there are those of us who use it for our own ulterior motives just like me. Nether the less he is still a powerful wizard so crossing him can land you in a spot of bother. I would know. As you can imagine he was not very happy with me when he found out I was leaving school before the start of my six year. Things got even worse when he managed to find out where I was going. You see it's not everyday that a sixteen year old witch gets it into her head to change the future. What pleased him even less was that the future I planned to change was in fact the present. Too bad he never had enough time to do anything about it.

It all started in mid August. I was home and with family, neither of which could be viewed as positives, especially not since I found out that I was adopted. On the other hand it was pleasant to know that I did not in fact share DNA with _Ronald_ or _Percy_. Mum was really worried about me, I had even over heard her talking about how worried she was I was going to run away, or something equally as stupid to dad, except I didn't think of them as mum and dad anymore. They were Molly and Arthur. That week I had yelled, screamed, threatened and cried trying to find out who my real parents were. I could tell by the look on their faces that they were deceased but I would have liked pictures, names or _something._

"Ginny" I looked up to see Harry standing in my doorway.

"Take a seat" I muttered. As he sat down I noticed a large envelope in his hands and he noticed the attention I was paying to it.

"Here, they won't know I took it since it's a copy of the originals." He looked as good as I did which could only be described as horrible at best.

Hands shaking and breathing laboured I opened the envelope to find the first sheet was a picture. It was of a handsome young redheaded man with green-blue coloured eyes and a woman who looked exactly like me except she had blonde hair and blue eyes. Even though I was a redhead I still stood out among the Weasley's. Their hair was a burnt orange and mine was an auburn red. Their hair was straight and thick where my hair was loosely curled. They were all tall and lanky and I was small and lithe. They had either born or blue eyes but I had green-blue eyes. Looking at this picture it was nice to be able to recognise parts of them in me. I had the same eye and hair colour as the man and I looked exactly like the woman except for my hair and eye colour.

Harry was smiling. "It's nice to be able to see them. It sort of proves that they were real."

"I never really understood how you never got sick of people saying you look exactly like your father but have your mother's eyes until now." I knew I was smiling among the tears.

"Yeah, so are you going to look through rest or should I have only bothered with the picture," he smiled and I could see not only the amusement the happiness at how someone finally understood.

The next sheet was a birth certificate, my birth certificate. Looking at it I noticed how different the truth really was. My name was Guinevere Eleanora Hallowell. Ginevra was Italian for Guinevere. Molly had said I was a big baby but according to this I was a small baby. It turns out I wasn't born on the 11th of August but the 24th of December. My parent's names were Azrael and Helena and they were French purebloods. Honestly, why is blood status needed on a freaking birth certificate, merlin! I smiled when my mother's height read 5'4", she wasn't much taller than me. I just reach 5'2" which sucks when all the men in the house are at least six foot, which happened to be my father's height.

"Sort of redefines who you think you are doesn't it?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I feel like I don't even know who I am anymore?" I whispered. I couldn't be bothered taking out the next sheet. "What happened to them?"

"Your mum died in labour I think it says somewhere and your dad was not liked by Greyback." He said grimly. It was slightly better than having your parent's murder by Voldemort to get to you, I guess.

"Hermione arrived today." He commented.

"Fabulous, my life is complete. I don't know how I managed to survive without her to treat me like I child along with everyone else." I was really tired of being treated like a five year old.

Harry laughed. He looked smug. Probably because I now understood how he felt when everyone coddled him and wanted to talk about feelings. If Hermione dared to try and talked to me about how I was feeling she would have been feeling my fist in her face. I grinned at the thought.

"Thinking up trouble are we?" Harry laughed.

"What makes you say that?" now I was curious.

"You get this sparkle in your eyes and the right corner of you mouth twitches up. That and I know Hermione is all about feelings, I have had many a thought where I hit her in the head with Hogwarts: A History." He didn't get a chance to finish the word with before I snorted and laughed as he continued, smiling all the while.

"So who exactly is downstairs?" I wondered.

"Fluer-…"

"Don't even bother to continue." I muttered darkly, I did NOT want to her conceited French blonde opinion on my situation.

"If it's any consolation, Hermione is having to sit through beauty care advice at the moment." And we both burst out laughing at this. I hoped Hermione was enjoying herself.

"When I left Fluer was saying how the fact that she barely ever read when she did her N.E.W.T.'s gave her time to look beautiful, however you say it in french. Ron was too busy drooling to come to her rescue." He laughed.

"Bet Hermione loved the advice, she'll love Ron even more for not saving her." I giggled.

"Wouldn't it have been great to be Marauders." Harry laughed.

"Yeah, you and I would have been worshipped." I giggled, imaging boys like Zacharias Smith bowing down to me and the when the were staring at the ground I would sneakingly stick enchanting notes on their back saying 'kick me' so that everyone who read it would kick them.

"Evil eye sparkle again." Harry snickered and laughed himself silly when I relayed my evil plot.

"The time of the Marauders must have been great. Can you imagine the rush you would get if you got away with things like that. Oh My Merlin, imagine how McGonagall would deal with it," we both snorted and laughed, "The only downside would be that their clothes would be even more archaic than they are now."

"Yeah, someone should have introduced muggle clothes back then so things would be easier for us now." He chuckled.

"HARRY!" we heard Molly yell.

"The angry mother hen beckons. I'll see you later." Harry said and left with a small smile.

Now I was alone yet again. Having Harry talk to me had been a nice distraction now it was me and my mind, scary really. Being a Marauder would have been lots of fun but in these times, when war was upon us, you weren't allowed to have fun or be happy. I wondered what things would have been like if Voldemort had been destroyed by, say, Dumbledore. Would things now be very different? Would Harry and I have our parents? Would Hermione still be a witch? Would everyone be safe and happy? Something in my heart kept saying no when my mind kept saying yes. Looking at the clock next to my bed I noticed it was about eight. No wonder Harry had been called down it was dinner time. I hadn't eaten in two weeks, I just wasn't hungry.

It was then that the thought first crossed my mind. What if someone went back and changed it all for the better? At first I tossed the thought aside as silly and stupid but as I the night got later it kept popping up. Then I decided I had to do it. It _was_ stupid, it was reckless and it may not work but I'm stubborn as hell and even more determined. The next week and a half I planned.

I remembered when Sirius fell through the veil. The doorway had been covered I ruins and other such inscription. Using my pensieve, a gift from Harry, I took a closer look at it. The individual inscriptions were each on a separated little stone in one section. Translating the ruins I found exactly what I wanted, what Professor Binns had said was a mere legend. The veil could be used as a gateway to the past. Take that, Unspeakables! Binns had said many unspeakables had tried to find out what the veil was originally meant to be used for. Folding up the parchment I put it into the pocket of my jeans, pulled a hoodie over my shirt, put on my boots and started to pack my things. When Harry was busy laughing I had kidnapped his wand so I could minimise all my things to fit into my pockets.

With my clothes and school stuff done and it being late at night, I climbed very carefully out the window and down side of the house. Now all I had to do was get myself to Gringotts then the ministry. Easy enough. All I had to do was walk into town and catch the Nightbus to the Leaky Cauldron, walk through Diagon Alley to Gringotts, remove all my money, then floo to the Ministry.

I took a seat at the bus stop in town. While I waited it was time to set out some details. Since I wouldn't be born yet I'd use my real name, I'd be a Gryffindor, because the hat probably wouldn't put my anywhere eels, and I would be a sixth year. Depending on what year I went back to would effect who I was at school with and what was happening in the war. If I went back to the Marauder's sixth year I would have two years to be friends with them, two years to help Peter, Snape and Regulus. Those three were my main concerns if I helped others along the way that was fine. If I went back to their seventh year I would only have one year to work on Peter but longer to help Regulus. I would also be able to help get James and Lily together. Merlin, time is difficult.

"Welcome to the… 'Ello, isn't you little Ginny Weasley?" Stan Shunkbite asked and I did not like the way he was leering.

"No, sorry, I'm not. Is this the Nightbus?" I asked my voice softer than it had been, ever since I found out I was adopted small things about me had changed, my appearance had been the first, though it was the loose curls and eye colour that were new.

"Yep, this is the Nightbus, where you headed anyway?" he asked.

"Um, I'm looking to go to the Leaky Caulron, can you take me there? I figured it best to be polite.

"Sure, love, we'll 'ave you there in a jiffy." And with that we were off.

While I was on the bus I figured I'd let my hair out of its ponytail and put on some mascara, eyeliner and lip gloss to help with being recognised. The old Ginny Weasley never let her hair out of its ponytail and she never wore make-up either so I figured that would be enough. The bus reached the Leaky Cauldron quickly and I was glad to be out of Stan Shunknite's biew. Tom, the barman and owner, didn't recognise me at all. Amazing what a little make-up and hair can do. I rented a room for the night, since I was only going to be there that one night.

The next morning as I ate breakfast there was a lot of chatter about 'that missing Weasley girl'. I heard many comments such as 'not surprising with that many children' and 'six boys no wonder she run away'. Ignoring it was rather easy and I soon found myself at Gringotts.

"Hi, I wish to speak to one of the Head Goblins if I may." I asked a particularly bored looking Goblin.

"Oh, yes, right this way miss?" he asked.

"Hallowell, and your name is?" I smiled, I liked goblins they were so straightforward.

"Emerik." He replied and the rest of the walk went on in silence. We stopped at a door which Emerik disappeared through for a few minutes then returned though giving me the okay to speak to one of the head goblins.

"Hello, Miss Weasley, I am Azkorchen, what may I do for you?" Goblin or not he came across as very regal and curious as his eyes fised on me.

"Well, I'm going to take an educated guess and say you know what you may do for me." I replied with a smile as I took a seat.

"Alright then. I shall empty the personal vault of Miss Guinevere Hallowell and the Hallowell family vault for you. I shall also report them and four other vaults as being broken into. I will also have an unsuspecting wizard come across your dead body near Ottery St. Catchpole. How do you wish to have passed?" he asked and I had to admit he was through.

"Make it look like I went for a walk, slipped and hit my head on a rock. That sounds simple enough that they would never suspect anything and if they do they'll think someone killed me then robbed my vaults." I smiled, surprised by how well everything was coming together.

"Very well then." He left the room for a few minutes and returned with a small box I was guessing he had shrunk for me.

"Thank you, Azkorchen." I said, pocketing the box and leaving.

Back at the Leaky Cauldron I flooed to the Ministry. I used the address Arthur did and was quick to sneak out of the Department for the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts and unobtrusively make my way to the Department of Mysteries. I remembered everything that had occurred here a year ago. Part of me felt bad about doing this to everyone at a time like this but the other half knew in the end I was doing something someone should have done a long time ago. Over the PA system came a message from Albus Dumbledore.

"I do not wish to alarm anyone" at this I snorted, "but a young redheaded woman who is rather short" I muttered _'I am not short', _"has been discovered to be a deatheater and is attempting to assassinate the minister as we speak, please help the aurors to find her, thank you."

Thank WANKER! I am NOT short, I am height challenged, thank you very much. As for telling them I'm a deatheater out to assassinate the minister, well, that's one way to catch me, I suppose. Too bad they're to late, it could have gotten really interesting around here.

There in front of me was the veil, in all its gruesome glory. I jogged up to it, pulled the sheet of paper out of my pocket and got to work. It didn't take very long to set the ruins up.

"Alright, I'm not sure if this is how it goes but veil, I need you to take me back to 1977." I said clearly.

"Hey, there she is. Stop!" someone yelled as I stepped through the veil.

The next thing I know I'm right where I was except everything looked newer, less, well, battle worn. I pulled out a cloak, put it on a made my way back into the ministry picking up a copy of the Daily Prophet. I almost screamed with joy when the date read August 31st. I managed to make it to a floo and then back to the Gringotts without drawing much attention to myself. I spoke to Azkorchen again though he didn't know me and managed to set everything up including fake school records and other such things. Now I had to floo to Dumbledore's office. This was going to be difficult.

"Come in, Miss Hallowell, believe." A barely younger looking Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling.

"Good, you received my letter." I smiled back.

"Yes, I did. I must say it will be a pleasure to have you. I was a bit surprised to find that you are enulled." He looked a little concerned but I smiled at him reassuringly. Lord knows I did not need this Dumbledore to be on my case to.

"When my parents passed away I had no guardian, godparent or any living relatives. I would have been placed into a foster home and I didn't to be put with people who only took me for my money or the fact that I'm a pureblood. My parents worked a lot so I practically raised and took care of myself." I let my smile falter convincingly, "The courts agreed because they knew I would be at school most of the year and that I would be an adult soon anyway."

"Well, welcome to Hogwarts. I'm Professor Dumbledore, your Headmaster. Here at Hogwarts we have four houses Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin. Students are sorted using this hat." He said a he pulled Godric Gryffindor's old hat down from its place on a shelf. He then placed it on my head and it waited a second before yelling Gryffindor.

"Alright then. On to you classes, what do you wish to take?"

"I think I'll take Defence, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Ancient Ruins and Care of Magical Creatures, if that's okay." I smiled nervously, aiming to act as if I was insure about everything. It seemed to have the old man fooled.

"Transfiguration is taught by Professor McGonagall, Defence by Professor Marlowe, Charms by Professor Flitwick, Ruins by Professor Knovachek, and Care of Magical Creature by Professor Cooper. Professor Slughorn teachers Potions and will be thrilled to see you managed an O in you O.W.L's." I didn't really need to know who taught what with a few of those classes but if I was knew I wouldn't know.

"I'll try and remember but it's a lot of names to remember when I don't have faces to put them to yet." I chuckled fake nervuodly.

"Very good, I'll see you at Gryffindor table tomorrow then." And with that I said good bye and left for the Leaky Cauldron.

Dinner was a very boring affair until I found a pretty blonde girl sitting in front of me.

"Hello, Tom, over there," she pointed to him, "says you're a new student at Hogwarts?" her brown eyes stared at me as if to read my mind.

"Yes, I'll be in Gryffindor." I said quietly, she was so loud.

"BRILLIANT! Oops, haha, you'll be in my dorm then. I'm Nicole Graham." She thrust a hand out to me which shook since it didn't look like I had much of a choice.

"I'm Guinevere Hallowell." I decided to stick to giving people the impression I was quiet, calm and gentle. That way I wouldn't come across of any sort of a threat.

"Guinevere huh?" she said and I nodded, "don't worry I'll think of a good nickname for you." She finished. I didn't particularly want a nickname. Everyone who had ever called me by a nickname had treated me like a child.

"Not very outspoken huh?" she laughed loudly. God, how I wished she would shut up!

"Not really." I muttered.

"Don't worry, I can fix that too." I beamed. I had to admit I didn't like the idea of being someone's experimental guinea pig.

"So what classes are you taking?" She asked eagerly.

"Defence, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Ancient Ruins and Care of Magical Creatures." I really didn't want to tell her but I didn't want to come across as rude.

"DAMN! Haha, I'm taking Charms, Potions, Astronomy, Divination and Herbology. I'm not that great a witch." She smiled.

"Everyone is different. Some people are better at different things, that's all. I wasn't that good with Herbology, Astronomy or Divination." I lied. I had in fact gotten O's for Herbology and Astronomy and an E for Divination (because I spent the entire paper talking about various ways in which Harry will suffer before he dies at the hand of a mosquito)

"Thanks, you are soooo sweet." She gave me a dazzling smile. Maybe fitting in wouldn't be so hard.

"Oh, and I know what I'm going to call you now." She laughed, "I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. Rose. Because your hair is as red as one." She continued. As annoying as I found her I was glad I had made at least one friend. Hopefully my first day at Hogwarts would go this smoothly.

"Rose, hello?" I snapped out of my thoughts, "I don't worry" she said, "I daze off like that too sometimes. Best we head off to bed now."

We both stood up and it was then I noticed the difference in our heights. I groaned when I estimated her to be five foot eight. She looked at me and giggled.

"Aww, you're so little! Night." And with that she flounced up to her room. I both hated and liked the girl. She was going to drive me insane.

**a/n: **

**disclaimer: I do not own the charater etc it's all j.k. rowlings. You all know this and I'm not going to repeat it every chapter cos I'm lazy.**

**If I were ginny I'd hate being youngest because I imagine you'd get babied so I thought it'd be funny if she thought she'd escaped that and turns out everyone in the past do it to. Read and review people.**

**xXxVolpexXx**


	2. Dormitory Disaster

=Two=

_Dormitory Disaster_

I was having the most fantastic dream and then…

"GOOD MORNING!" I woke to find Nicole's blonde hair right in my face, "wow, I cannot believe you're still asleep." She giggled.

"I did a lot of travelling yesterday." I said getting up. Looking through my trunk I pulled out ¾ length black leggings, a denim skirt and a white shirt. I went the bathroom threw them on, brushed my teeth and hair and went back to Nicole.

"I love your sense of style wizards are sooo archaic." She rolled her eyes. Finally something we could agree on.

"Yes, I think so too." I pulled on a pair of white flats and fished out some money.

"Good you're prepared to shop for school stuff. Did Dumbledore give you a list of things that you'll need?"

"Yes."

"Good, now let's shop. Hopefully we'll run into loads of people I can introduce you to." Nicole smiled. God I hope I don't kill the girl before we make it to the train.

We had a quick breakfast, or Nicole did. She ate the plate in less the five minutes while I had only taken a few bites before she yanked out to Diagon Alley.

The first stop was Flourish&Blotts. The books I needed were easy to find, Nicole's however were not.

"Did you try the text book section?" I said softly, mostly to myself.

"YES!" she yelled from another aisle of books. Great! Now she had super hearing.

"Maybe we should ask someone for help." I sighed.

"I found them, finally! I want a bloody discount for all the trouble and time it took to find the bloody books." She huffed bloodly.

It a loud five minute argument before Nicole got that discount. I guess she was not the kind of friend I should argue with. We grabbed an ice cream on our way to Madam Malkins.

"So I need one set of robes for each day of the week. I want different sets for winter and summer too. You should probably ask for the same Rose." She explained as we entered. Madam Malkin was much younger looking and a lot more patient, luckily, because the older version would have rung Nicole's neck.

After she had finished with Nicole, having taken half an hour. She moved onto me, reading out measurements for the quill as she went.

"That is so not fair! You're so thin, maybe a little too thin though. You look delicate though which should work in you favour. A lot of guys here play quidditch and they think that if you're not little and thin then they don't need to be careful about being rough." She was babbling and I was drowning it out. I knew I was thin naturally and the two weeks where I didn't eat anything hadn't helped.

"I play quidditch." I said to myself, lightly.

"Really, well you don't want to play here. The boys on the teams use it as an excuse to attempt to kill the guys on the other teams. They're absolutely brutal!" she was getting loud again, "The few girls that do play are all taller than me and, not fat, but big boned, you know?!" she explained.

"You'd be eaten alive out on the pitch!" she yelled.

"Oh, okay then, if you think it's a bad idea." I had to admit I was disappointed. I still my play though if they had no one else.

"Yes, yes it is." She said, brooking no argument.

It was then that a boy walked in, nothing special, average height, brown hair and eyes. Nicole waved him over, though. My mind went 'YAY!' NOT!

"Terry, this is Rose. Rose, this is Terry. He's a sixth year Gryffindor too." She said, eager to watch the exchange.

"Hi." I said quietly, I really didn't want to talk to him but he just took it to mean I was shy, or maybe Nicole told him I was.

"Hey, so where did you move from?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm English but I was home schooled until recently.

"Ohhhhhh…" the both said as if it explained some hidden secret.

"Wow, your hair is really red, though. More so than Evans'." He smiled and pulled on a lock of it.

"Umm, thanks." I recognised Harry's mother's last name immediately.

"So your named Rose after your hair colour then?"

"No, its actually Guinevere, Rose is what Nicole calls me." I gave a small smile.

"Rose fits you nicely. You speak very quietly, softly. It's very pretty and endearing but everyone at Hogwarts is loud or opinionated or loud _and_ opinionated." Terry laughed.

I honestly couldn't tell if he was flirting or not and it bothered me.

"Oh, almost forgot to ask you last name. Mine is Fletcher." He smiled.

"Oh, Hallowell."

Awkward silence. "I'm not going to git in am I?" I asked quietly dreading the answer.

"You may fit in eventually but you'll always stand out." Terry smiled and tugged at my hair.

"You're not… what I mean to say is… are you… trying to... err… flirt?" my voice a whisper, I was sure I was red in the face.

Terry laughed and the tug on my hair wasn't as gentle as it was before.

"No, I'm not flirting. You're safe. It's Nicole I'm interested in." He chuckled, still tugging at my hair.

"Why are you tugging my hair." I asked cocking my head to the side, an old habit I guess o wasn't going to lose.

"Because it's in these loose curls that are just dying to be tugged at." As if to reinforce his statement he gave another tug.

"Just don't pull any of my hair out." I laughed.

"OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!" Nicole yelled.

"Umm…" Terry and I stood in confusion.

"I lover Rose's hair so you pull it out and I'll tip shrinking solution down the front of your pants." He grimaced and took a step back while I giggled.

"Absolutely hilarious, laugh it up." He muttered while I giggled and Nicole laughed. My giggle the as loud as soft breeze through the trees compared to Nicole's laugh which was like a jumbo jet taking off.

"Come on let's get the rest of our stuff and head of to the train."

The train ride was pretty fun actually. Nicole read Witch Weekly while Terry and I played chess.

"For Merlin's Sake, women are NOT supposed to be this good at chess." Terry complained. I heard Nicole snort in the background.

"Don't snort at me, Nicole," he smirked, "I can kick your arse at wizard's chess."

It was plainly obvious Nicole did not give a damn about whether or not she was any good at chess. She did however care about her appearance and was droning on about hair cuts.

"Maybe I should get a hair cut." I sighed.

"NO!" they both yelled.

"I love your hair. And it isn't that long yet, it only comes to about the underneath of your shoulder blades." Nicole said looking genuinely horrified at the thought of me cutting my hair.

"Okay, then." I smiled a little. It was nice to know she didn't want me conforming to the standards of a magazine. If she did I'd have to get a tan which is impossible. Terry and I went back to our game and it wasn't very long before my soft voice clearly announced "Check Mate"

"So… what's your favourite colour? Mine's orange." Terry asked, he seemed to want to make an effort to get to know me.

"Oh, I guess I'd have to say green-blue." I muttered. Most people never payed attention to small things such as that.

"Like your eye colour, right?" he asked and I smiled and nodded.

"Do you play quidditch?" I wondered.

"Yes, I'm a chaser." He grinned. A true quidditch maniac if I do say so myself.

"So do I. I play chaser too, actually. But Nicole said playing quidditch at school would be dangerous for me." I murmured.

"Oh, yeah probably, especially against the Slytherins bit we do need a new chaser and you should try out if you want but I'd recommend you don't too. I'd love for you to be on the team but it really does get nasty. We can play together for fun anytime you want instead. How about that?" He offered.

"Okay, that would be nice." Something's better than nothing right?

The train ride was fun. Terry and I talked with Nicole butting in loudly whenever she felt necessary. Terry was a good guy, he had an outgoing but soft personality. His constant tugging on my hair was annoying in an affectionate way, I want him to stop it but I think if he did I'd miss it. He too, like Nicole, had taken to calling me Rose and I now found that I didn't mind that much. I had a new life now and a new name would only make it easier. We got off the train and they led me to a carriage all the while explaining things I already knew like how the first years took the boats across the black lake, which was inhabitated by a squid apparently. That was new, I'd never heard of the lake having a squid.

We took whatever seats available at the Gryffindor table and had to endure a long speech from Dumbledore followed by a long sorting ceremony. After that it was straight to the food. Everyone ate so quickly as if it were their last meal.

"So who's this?" a blonde boy asked pointing at my. I blushed when the attention of the other two boys next to him, across from Nicole, Myself and Terry all looked at me.

"This is Rose Hallowell, she's new, but in our year." Nicole explained. They seemed interested.

"That's cool. I'm Mason." The blonde smiled.

"I'm Xavier, we room with Terry there." I liked Xavier best, so far he was the only one of the three not to check me out.

"Oh, so sorry. I'm Caleb." The last of the three boys said after swallowing a large mouthful of food. At least he didn't speak with his mouth full of food.

While I ate slowly in comparision to everyone else the boys talked about their summers and Nicole was still glued her Witch Weekly magazine and I felt rather alone.

"So how was you summer, Rose?" Xavier asked and I smiled.

"I went to Paris. I mostly looked at the historical sites and did some shopping. They have some amazing food." I smiled.

"Cool. My mum went to Paris last year but went while I was at school. I was a bit annoyed that I didn't get to go." He whined but it wasn't annoying.

"Maybe she just thought you wouldn't have been interested." I gave him a comforting smile.

"Or maybe she's just a cow." Mason shrugged. My mouth dropped then closed. Caleb took it upon himself to a goblet of pumpkin juice of Mason's head.

"What was that for?" he snapped.

"For being a prat." Caleb said as if it were an accepted fact like grass being green and the sky being blue.

"You shouldn't say things like that it's very rude." I said.

"Whatever, do you speak any louder? I can only just hear you." Mason said.

"No, sorry." I said.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm being a real jerk, sorry about what I said Xavier." Mason sighed.

The rest of dinner went by much more smoothly. Nicole continued to read, the boys chatted on and I commented here and there. They seemed to have adjusted to the fact that I'm very quite already. At first they missed a lot of what I said but soon picked up on my comments. Mason wasn't too bad, he had his pratty moments but was a decent bloke most of the time. Caleb was pretty nice too. I like Xavier best though, after Terry of course. Xavier was sweet but not stupid or even nerdy. Now it was what I had been dreading. Going up to Gryffindor tower where my new dorm mates would be.

Gryffindor tower looked exactly the same as it did in the future and it made me feel right at home. It seemed most people had chosen to go straight up to bed. I was taking everything in when…

"Oh, I'm sorry." I apologised the person I had just walked into. Looking up I saw a face that made my heart soar. Remus Lupin.

"It's fine. I walk into people every now and then too. Um, do I know you?" He seemed to picked up on the fact he had never seen me before.

"Oh, I'm a new sixth year, Rose. Rose Hallowell." I smiled and put my hand out. He shook it but seemed amused which puzzled me.

"Remus J. Lupin. I'm a seventh year though." He smiled.

"Rose, there you are! Nicole was just about to start yelling and Mason looked prepared to smother her with a pillow." Terry laughed and tuggued on a lock of hair. "Lupin," he acknowledged and ragged me upstairs.

Remus' amused grin broadened and he gave a little wave before heading out the portrait.

"There you are! Come meet the girls!" Nicole was so enthusiastic and I hoped to god they weren't all like her. I walked into the dorm and saw that the fifth bed had my trunk at the end of it and everything was set up for me. Three curious sets of eyes followed me and I realised why Remus had been amused. They were all tall blondes. They either had blue or brown eyes. God, so much for hoping I might fit in.

"Awwww, you _were _right she is soooooooooo cute!" When of them cooed at me and stood up. She was only an inch taller than Nicole.

"Yeah, she's tiny, and thin and her hair is amazing, skins really pale though, oh well, at least she doesn't have freckles." This blonde was only an inch shorter and both of them had brown eyes. The last was the same height as Nicole but had blue eyes. God, how was I supposed to tell them apart.

"Umm…" I said.

"Oh, Tiffany wears a blue headband," the first girl pointed to her headband, "Amara wears a blue sapphire necklace," the second girl waved, "and Jean wears orange nail polish" the last girl wavered her nails.

"So you're English?" Jean asked.

"Yes." Obviously, since I had an English accent.

I decided to settle in and set up my stuff. I was in way over my head how was I supposed to remember which girl used which accessory. I sat on my bed while the girls twittered about some guy named Logan. They were all as loud as Nicole. If anything Nicole was the quietest. I could not wait until class the next day. Hopefully Terry wouldn't mind me hanging out with him in whatever classes we might share.

"Hey Rose, what do you think of Logan?" Tiffany yelled.

"Wh… Who?" I mumbled.

"Oh My Merlin! How could you NOT tell her Nicole?" Amara shrieked and I flinched from the pitch of it.

"Logan is one of the hottest guys around except for Black, Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew." And that surprised me, Peter? I was guessing my presence had affected a lot of things here.

The four of them launched into this long winded speech about how hot, sweet, considerate and sexy Logan Jones was. I was so tired when they had finished. Then they got talking about the classes they had chosen. It looked like I would only have one of them with me in random classes. Thankfully Nicole is the least annoying out of the lot. I really think it was my being stuck in a dorm with these girls was what had amused Remus.

"So what do you think of the guys in our year?" Jean asked smiling excitedly.

"I like Terry and Xavier best. Caleb is okay and Mason I'm not sure about yet." I answered.

"Oh, well the fifth dorm mate is a guy name Carter. He's really cool but not as cool as Mason, they're best friends. I don't like Xavier much, not my kind of person." Jean stated.

"Yeah, me too." Tiffany and Amara said at the same time. Nicole was in the bathroom. I was going to take a guess and say that Xavier wasn't popular enough for them.

"Terry nice, I guess." Amara said and Tiffany nodded.

"He doesn't flirt though, he treats everyone, except the Slytherins, the same so it's too hard to tell if he's interested or not." Jean huffed.

"Do you have any pets?" Tiffany asked.

"No, I don't." I sighed.

"Oh, okay, well I'll be back alright. I need to go see this girl in Ravenclaw." And with that Tiffany exited the room. The conversation went from this to that. I explained how I was annulled and made up a story about my dead parents. The girls though they were loud, bold and horribly blatant weren't too bad.

I was so relieved when they decided they wanted to go to bed. I didn't think I could handle them being to loud for much longer. I hoped the next day wasn't too bad. At any rate I didn't want the first class I had to be potions but at least it wouldn't be taught by Snape but then again Slughorn wasn't much better.

I woke up, this time not to Nicole being right in my face. My alarm had gone off and I went and put on my uniform. I brushed out my hair leaving it loose and didn't bother with make-up since it was school. Breakfast sounded great and when I reached the bottom of the stairs I came face to face with Remus again.

"Good morning," he smiled the same amusement as the night before showing in his eyes, "did you like you dorm mates?"

"I thought Nicole was loud… why wow." I murmured.

"Do you have a volume button?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, did he really just ask me if I have a volume button?

"You're very quiet and soft voiced." Remus smiled.

"No, I don't have a volume button. Sorry," I said and we headed through the portrait.

"What did you think of the sixth year guys?" he asked.

"I like Terry and Xavier best but they seem to like them the least." I sighed.

"It's just one big popularity contest, sweetheart." He laughed.

"I… I don't mean to sound rude by why are you talking to me?" I had to admit I was curios.

"I honestly have no idea. I look at you and want to be your friend. Why? Do I scare you?" He laughed.

"No, you don't." I smiled.

"Good. You don't seem very judgemental which is hard to find around here, it also happens to be a quality I like." He said and could tell he was being serious.

"So Rose…" he stopped for dramatic effect. I cocked my head to the side, my stupid habit that I do when I'm curios.

"Join me for breakfast?"

"I'd like to but I promised Xavier that I'd be there, sorry." I would have liked to have had breakfast with Remus but I already knew him so making friends with him would be easy.

"Okay, I'll see you round then." And with that we went and sat down at different side of the table, in different places.

"Hey!" Xavier said brightly as I sat down next to Terry, across from him.

"Good morning." I replied as I reached for the fruit salad. Terry smiled and tugged my hair.

"Looking forward to classes?" Xavier asked.

"I'm looking forward to getting them over and done with." Terry chuckled.

"Yeah, I am looking forward to them." I smiled, and I honestly was looking forward to them only for the same as Terry.

"Good, McGonagall should be handing out the time tables soon. I hope we have classes together." He was such a sweet guy. I liked Xavier.

"Yeah, me too." Terry grinned at the thought.

"I think I'd love having classes with you Xavier." I smiled and giggled when Terry looked put out and Xavier snorted at his facial expression.

"What about me?" he whined.

"You'll get me into trouble for procrastination." I smiled.

"True, very true." Terry laughed.

"Rosie, why is Lupin looking at you?" Terry commented a minute later. Xavier head snapped up to look at Remus.

"I spoke to him this morning. He seems very nice." I said wondering what reaction it would incite.

"Sure Lupin's decent, but his friends aren't and if you hang out with him you're hanging out with them." Terry explained.

"oh, okay then." I murmured and McGonagall came round handing out timetables.

"Hello, you must be Miss Guinevere Hallowell, then?" she said.

"Yes."

"Your name is Guinevere?" Xavier clearly looked confused as she gave us our timetables and moved on.

"Rose is the nickname Nicole gave her because Nicole couldn't be stuffed using a name as long as Guinevere." Terry explained while I looked at my time table. The boys then inspected theirs.

"So who has double potions first?" I asked quietly.

"I do, Terry?" Xavier answered.

"Yes, I do too." He said still raking his eyes over the time table.

Slowly people started heading off to their respective classes.

"Should we go to?" I asked Xavier, acting clueless.

"No, we're allowed to be a little late." Terry said picking up more food.

"Yeah, we should go. See you there Terry." Xavier got up and I followed.

"No, stay with me Rose." Terry whined with a laugh.

"The professor will probably want to speak with her though." Xavier said.

"Yes, come on. See you in class." I followed Xavier out of the hall.

I let Xavier lead me so I didn't seem familiar with the halls and where I was going. We finally arrived in the dungeons. The teacher, Slughorn, hadn't arrived yet so everyone was waiting outside. Xavier and I were the only Gryffindors there, everyone else was a Slytherin.

"Are their students from other houses coming?" I asked trying to fake being naive.

"Only two houses take classes together so its not crowded. It'll be us, Terry and all of the Slytherin sixth years." He explained and I noticed he was uncomfortable. The door to the room opened and everyone filed in. Xavier stood at the back of the classroom with me as Terry walked in.

"Excuse me sir?" Xavier managed to capture his attention.

"Oh, Yes. Class we have a new Gryffindor student Guinevere Hallowell but professor McGonagall informs me everyone calls you Rose? Yes?" he boomed, I was quickly getting upset by all these loud voices.

"Yes." Only a few students up the back heard me answer.

"What? Speak up, young lady." His laugh boomed to.

"She doesn't get any louder, Professor." Terry smiled at me as if apologising for Slughorn.

"Okay, then. So it was a yes to my earlier question?" he asked and I nodded.

"Alright then, Miss Hallowell. Mr Phillips," I guessed was Xavier, "Sit with Mr Fletcher and Miss Hallowell if you could sit by Mr Black, please."

I couldn't tell if Regular found this pleasing or not. I sat down next to him and took out my stuff. We were going to brew the draft of living peace, something I had already learnt thank god.

"Are you any good at potions?" Regulus asked.

"I got an O on my O.W.L's." I murmured.

"Then you're good." He said with a smile.

"Thank you. You can call me Rose." I suggested. Just ease him into a friendship now and it'll be easier later.

"All right then, I'm Reggie."

"Reggie, okay." I stated.

"Have you brewed this potion before?" He looked both curios and surprised.

"Yes, actually." I couldn't help but blush at his scrutiny.

"You _are_ good." I laughed and he did too. The rest of potions went by easily Reggie wasn't as nasty, so far, as she had been led to believe. I noticed Xavier and Terry keeping a close eye on the two of us. I smiled and gave them a small wave. Everything was great until James Potter swaggered into the class grinning, a cocky grin which faultered when he saw Reggie or me, I couldn't tell.

"Ah, hello, Mr Potter I believe you have a note for me?" Slughorn boomed and I winced. I heard Reggie chuckled.

"Yes, sir." He handed the note to him and scanned the room as Slughorn read it, then sat down to write some sort of reply.

"Do you know him?" Reggie asked. It was impossible for a Slytherin not to pick up on those sort of things.

"No, why?" was my soft, simple reply.

"Because he keeps looking your way. It's probably because you have red hair. Potter has a thing for redheads. All the Potter's have as far as I know." He said sounding unhappy, "he's been trying to get this redheaded Evans' girl to go out with him for years. Hopefully he doesn't try it on you."

"Yes." And with that James left with a note for whoever had sent him and as he left I received an odd look from him.

The bell went and Reggie and I compared timetables. I had Care of Magical Creatures, with Xavier thank merlin, and he had Astronomy. Xavier came and got me and was respectful enough not to pry into my time with Reggie unlike Terry.

"So what the hell did Black want?" he was not impressed.

"Nothing, we just talked." I murmured hoping he would drop it and when he didn't I was glad Xavier and I were heading to a different class. In fact Xavier and I were talking all the same classes. I was happy about that he was such a sensitive guy.

"So do you like animals?" I whispered excitedly.

"I suppose but I have a lot of allergies. I wouldn't have taken this class but it was this or Astronomy alone with the Slytherins." He answered ruefully.

"Oh, we'll have fun, I promise." I beamed and he returned it. I much preferred his company and Terry or Reggie's to my dormmates.

Classes finished quickly after which was surprising. I spent most of Care of Magical Creatures giggling not only because we were looking at jarvey's(insulting ferrets) but also because Xavier spent most of the lesson sneezing. Lunch was a loud affair since all of my dorm mates joined up with the boys. Eventually Xavier asked if we could be excused and the two of us bolted for the library and were happy to find it empty. Professor Flitwick was rather pleased that I could do non-verbal spells successfully. I helped Xavier who caught on easily unlike Terry who whined the entire time and Nicole who yelled at him the entire time. By the time we were free of classes I was happy to upstairs and crash in the door. I opened the portrait door in time to hear a girl yell.

"YOU BLEW UP THE SIXTH YEAR GIRLS DORM!"

**a/n: Please read and review, I really enjoy writing this and it sucks when you write something** **and no one reviews. I love Xavier, he's based off of a good guy friend of mine who really wanted to be a character in this.**

**xXxVolpexXx**


	3. The Marauder's and Flowers

=Three=

_The Marauder's and Flowers_

As I entered the room I say four boys looking at a very angry redhead. I noticed Remus looking sheepish, pushing his sandy blonde hair out of his face while the girl yelled. He smiled when he noticed me, even when he took in the presence of Xavier and Terry. The redhead whirled on us.

"Why is Remus smiling at you?!" she snapped, her green eyes fierce. I know knew where Harry got his temper.

"I… I…" that was all I managed to get out and I doubt Terry or Xavier heard. Intelligent and impressive huh?

"I have _no_ idea why Lupin is smiling at us, Evans." Terry said. The head girl badge that shone on her robes didn't seem to have an impact on him. She was still glaring and I took a step back and Xavier reassuringly put an arm around my shoulders.

"Good!" she turned back to continue yelling.

"Did you say he destroyed my dorm?" I asked worriedly but she couldn't hear my quiet voice over her own yelling. I was getting upset. Being in the past was emotionally exhausting, everyone was so loud and now my dorm was apparently destroyed. I felt the tear start.

"Hey, did you say they destroyed Rose's dorm?!" Terry yelled and Evans turned. Remus' eyes fixed on me, or rather my tears.

"Yes! Why couldn't she ask herself?" Lily yelled. Xavier, merlin I love him, jumped in to my defense.

"But she did." He didn't yell but he was loud enough to be heard. James, Sirius and Peter were staring at me which only made the tears fall faster.

"Why didn't she speak up?!"

"Because this is as loud as I get?" I chocked out. I wasn't very loud and the fact I was upset only made me quieter.

"You're kidding?" Lily said at what I guessed was her normal volume.

"No." I said.

"You… you… des… destroyed my… my dorm?" I directed it at Remus.

"No, no I didn't destroy you dorm. They did." Remus said pointing to James, Sirius and Peter. This Peter was as tall as Remus was which was a little under six foot, had baby blonde hair and watery blue eyes and was, unlike the one I knew, rather attractive in a boyish way.

"Oh." Was all I could come up with. Why had they destroyed my dorm? Was it because James had seen me talking with Reggie.

"I've called McGonagall, she'll be here soon." Lily said and she looked very guilty about having yelled and upset me.

"Um… It's Phillips, right?" She asked Xavier, "Could you fetch McGonagall she's taking to long."

"I don't…" was all he got out before Terry interrupted.

"Its fine, all stay with her." He offered and tugged on a lock of my hair for the zillionth time that day and I giggled softly.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked me.

"No, she isn't. It's stressful enough being new, in a dorm full of sluts, learning tons of names and being in an entire school surrounded by people who, to her, are incredibly loud." He snapped.

"What is going on?!" McGonagall snapped, she looked at me and went straight to yelling. When she'd figured out everything that was going on she thought for a moment.

"Miss Graham, Pardeau, Faletti and Davis can stay in the seventh year girls dorm. Miss Evans if you and Miss Hallowell could stay in your head dorm." She said and Lily nodded.

"As for you boys, a months detention. As if detryong their dorm wasn't enough you destroyed everything in it and Miss Hallowell just bought new books and clothes and I'm sure that she owned priceless items of sentimental value! I would really like to hear how this HAPPENED!" I'd never seen McGonagall so mad.

"Well, we…" James started.

"SPIT IT OUT, POTTER!" she snapped.

"It was supposed to mess up the seventh year dorm but it went off early so we sort of just threw in the sixth year dorm so we wouldn't get hurt. It wasn't supposed to destroy every, just make a mess." Peter owned up.

"I don't care either way! Miss Hallowell I'll speak to Madam Malkin, she keeps records of girls measurements I'm sure she would not be adverse making you and your dorm mates a second order of uniforms exactly the same as what you owned. The same with your books. I'll have everything sorted for you in the morning. Did you have any priceless irreplaceable artefacts in your room?" I liked this kinder side to McGonagall that I was probably only seeing because I was crying.

"Just my… my wand." It came out a whisper.

"I'm sorry, you speak too softly." She said.

"Her wand. Her wand was in the dorm she put it back their before dinner." Terry said angrily.

"Her wand, you destroyed her wand as well!" I'm calling your parents."

"God, no not my parents." James moaned.

"Yes, because you four boys will pay to replace everything." She growled.

"Everything?" Peter wanted verification.

"EVERYTHING! YOU WILL PAY TO REPLACE EVERYTHING YOU DESTROYED! So be prepared for a large bill boys because the girls buy the expensive stuff, though I'm not sure about Miss Hallowell." McGonagall was not impressed.

"Follow me to the headmaster's office. Now!" she ordered and they didn't dare argue.

"I am so sorry." Lily said, and she did look sorry, "I'll just tell the girls upstairs what's going on and then we'll go back to my head girl dorm, okay?" she smiled.

"Yeah." I must have been drugged or just stupid when I thought coming to this time was a good idea. She returned shortly.

"Terry, can you tell Xavier that I'll see you guys at breakfast?" I sniffed and wiped away some tears and he tugged my hair.

"Sure, I'll see you at Breakfast." He waved and went upstairs to bed.

"Okay, come with me." Lily said. The head dorm was nice; they shared a large common room with desks and bookshelves but had separate rooms of course.

"I swear if those boys dare to show their faces in this dorm after McGonagall and Dumbledore have dealt with them, I will not hesitate to blow up their heads." She growled taking a seat and I followed suit.

"Or pour shrinking solution down the front of their pants." I murmured to myself. Lily's shout of laughter meant she had heard.

"Brilliant idea," she laughed, "Especially when it comes to Potter and Black."

"Did you say my name?" James voice interrupted. I turned to look at the Maruder's and Lily literally growled.

"What the hell do the four of you think you're doing here?"

"Well this is the head dorm and I am head boy." James smirked.

"After you blew up her dorm?!" Lily shrieked and I flinched.

"Apparently so." Sirius muttered.

Remus came and sat across from me and I watched him as he studied my face. I wondered what it was he was looking for. James, Sirius and Peter sat down next to him.

"I'm really sorry." Remus said not breaking eye contact.

"You didn't do anything." I said softly.

"Still… I'm usually the one to keep these guys from doing anything stupid so I can't help but feel a little responsible." Remus smiled and leaned back in his chair and I let out the breath I hadn't known I'd been holding.

"So, who the hell are you?" James asked.

"POTTER!" Lily shrieked.

"I'm Peter Pettigrew and you are?" Peter said.

"Guinevere Hallowell but everyone calls me Rose."

"Why?" Sirius asked but he didn't look the least bit curious. He was sizing me up like one would a deatheater which didn't make sense. Even if I spoke with Reggie what sort of a threat would a five foot two redhead be to a six foot three prankster extraordinaire like Sirius?

"I met Nicole the day before I got on the train at the Leaky Cauldron. She said my name was too long so she decided to call me Rose because my hair is as red as one." I explained.

"Wow! That must have been the longest you've spoken since I met you. You should feel privileged Padfoot." Remus laughed.

"So you're friends with Phillips and Fletcher, huh?" Lily asked. I think she was just trying to make some sort of conversation to distract her from her urge to wring James' neck.

"Yeah."

"Why?" I was beginning to wonder if that was the only word Sirius Black knew.

"I like Terry because he's willing to play quidditch with me and he's fun. I like Xavier because he's sweet and sensitive and a genuinely good person." The way he had asked why sounded disbelieving as if he couldn't understand why anyone would want to be friends with Xavier or Terry.

"You play quidditch?" James asked eagerly.

"Oh no, Potter. You are not putting her on the pitch, she'd get eaten alive." Lily scowled.

"That's what everyone says." I sighed.

"Well, you would, you're tiny." Sirius chuckled.

"I'm not tiny, I'm height challenged." I muttered and he gave a bark like laugh.

"I like your hair," Lily said once again directing the conversation to a safe topic, "is it like that naturally? The colour and the loose curls, I mean."

"Yes." I answered.

"You're the first person I have ever met who hair hair anywhere near the same colour as mine let alone darker." Lily laughed. Her hair was bright red, like a fire truck red while mine was darker, like a dark red rose.

"Thanks."

"So, what position do you play?" James asked eagerly.

"POTTER!" Lily shrieked.

"For Merlin's sake, Evans, the man is just asking a question." Sirius growled and sounded exasperated.

"I play chaser."

"Brilliant, too bad we couldn't get you out on the pitch." James sounded genuinely disappointed.

"You're forgetting the most important question," Sirius said, "Are you any good?"

"Yes, I've never played against anyone who could outfly me." Which was true.

"Awesome." James commented.

"So you said Fletcher was going to play quidditch with you because you can't play on the team?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, he is." I yawned, it had been an exhausting day.

"You look zonked, Rose." Remus chuckled.

"I'm fine." I muttered, to steal a phrase from Harry's book.

"Bullshit." Sirius snorted.

"BLACK!" Lily shrieked and I flinched again.

"Will you _stop_ shrieking!" he yelled and I flinched again. I was never going to get used to the noise.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked.

"Everyone is so loud." My voice as soft as ever.

"No, you're just quiet." Sirius stated.

"You should get some rest." Lily said.

"Okay." And that was the last thing I remember from my first day of classes.

I woke up on the lounge wrapped up in a blanket. I was glad the lounge was comfortable or I would have been really sore. I sat up and noticed Sirius Black sitting on the lounge opposite me.

"Good morning, Sunshine." He said sarcastily.

"Morning." I said but I don't think he heard.

"James said you looked pretty chummy with my brother, Regulus, in Potions yesterday.

"He's nice and good at potions." I smiled.

"He's not nice," Sirius frowned, "Be carefull."

"Okay." I said softly pretending to not know what he meant.

"Want to have breakfast with us to make up for your dorm?" he asked but I could tell there was another reason and I cocked my head. Damn that effing habit.

"Alright, James is hoping it will show Evans what a nice guy he is and she'll say yes when he asks her out at lunch." He explained and I giggled.

"I'm eating breakfast with Xavier." I murmured, I was tempted to say 'screw Xavier' but I liked him to much. But I still wanted to get to know the Marauders better.

"Why?"

"Is 90% of you conversational skills made up of the question 'why'. I like Xavier, he's my friend and I promised to have breakfast with him." I had aimed to sound angry but with a voice like mine it just didn't happen.

"No. I just think Phillips is a ponce." Sirius huffed.

"He is not."

"Your temper is hilarious. You're not threatening in the least. Well have fun with Phillips." He muttered and got up. I followed and we walked to breakfast. I didn't say anything. We just walked in silence. When we reached the great hall Xavier waved me over and I heard Sirius grunt in disgust before walking down to the Marauders.

"Hey."

"Hi." I replied merrily if quietly.

"Did you get along with Evans?" He asked, unlike when Terry asked me those sorts of questions it wasn't an interrogation. He just made conversation.

"I guess we didn't talk much before Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew came in and we talked but I fell asleep on the lounge before long." I smiled remembering how I had said I wasn't tired and then dropped.

"Evans is nice when she isn't yelling or shrieking, both of which she does often." He chuckled.

"Yeah, I hurt from all the flinching I've been doing." I giggled. That was another reason I liked Xavier so much. He wasn't anywhere near as quiet as I was but there was something soft about the way in which he spoke so, no matter how loud he got, I never flinched. I was a welcome relief.

"What do you think of the Marauder's?" he asked. Playing dumb I asked.

"Marauder's?"

"Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew. They're called the Marauders because they cause a lot of trouble." He explained.

"Oh, well that makes sense. I like Remus and I'm not sure about the rest of them." And it was the truth.

"Yeah, Lupin is probably the nicest. Umm… is that friendly like or, err… like like?" Xavier asked looked uncomfortable. I knew he was genuinely interesting and not making some sort of a pass at me.

"He's a friend, I think. I've given up on dating. It never works out for me."

"Probably a good idea. Most of the guys are players and those that aren't are usually the kind of guys girls only want as friends." He chuckled uneasily.

"Yeah, pretty typical huh?" I giggled.

"Yep, so what's first on the agenda?" he smiled.

"I have to go Olivander's to get a new wand, do you want to come?" I asked, I didn't really want to go alone.

"Yes." Someone answered at the same time as Xavier, as it turned out it was Terry. Terry and Xavier weren't fond of each other but would unite if it mean making me happy, which made me feel nice and special.

"Okay, you can both come." I laughed; my laugh wasn't much louder than my voice so it wouldn't carry across the hall even if I used a sonorus charm.

"Is it okay with McGonagall?" Terry asked and I had to admit it was a good question to ask.

"Yes, she said she'd prefer it if I took a friend or two rather than go by myself, actually." I smiled; it seemed smiling was something I did often these days, much more often than I did in the future.

So we set off to the headmaster's office so we could use his floo. He greeted us and apologised profusely for what had happened to my belonging which had all, and I do mean all, by this morning. I wondered how much money the Marauder's parents and Sirius had to fork out to pay for it all. Honestly, with what my dorm mates were like I didn't think I wanted to know. I liked Diagon alley it wasn't very different at all and Xavier and Terry led me to Olivander's.

"Ah, yes, Dumbledore told me you would be arriving, Miss Hallowell." We were greeted by Olivander, "Mr Fletcher, Mr Phillips."

"Let's get started shall we? What was your old wand like?"

"It was oak and unicorn hair, about eleven inches." I blushed, I could not believe I couldn't remember its length. I was surprised that he had actually heard me.

"Okay, let's try… Unicorn hair and Rowan, 10 ¾ inches." He said handing me a wand. I gave it a wave but nothing happened. He took it back and moved down an aisle. "Let's try a different core, shall we?"

"Okay, if you think that might help." I sighed. I liked my old wand.

"How about phoenix feather?" he offered.

"Okay." I replied since phoenix feather seemed to work so well for Harry why not give it a try.

"This one is phoenix feather and maple, 10 ½ inches, very versatile."

I gave it a flick and the quill he had placed on his desk for me to levitate twitched repeatedly but didn't lift. "Now we're getting close" Olivander murmured to himself, "Try this," he said, "Rosewood and phoenix feather, 10 ½ inches."

I gave it a flick and red and green-blue sparks flew out. I smiled and turned to Xavier and Terry who grinned in response to my obvious happiness. He packaged the wand and sent us on our way happy to have been able to find me the right wand. The class we had missed had been Transfiguration so we didn't need a note for not being there. Next on the list was Ancient Ruins. Terry headed of to Herbology.

"So you like Ruins then?" Xavier asked.

"Yes, I'm glad I have you in this class because we're the only two Gryffindor's and I don't know any Ravenclaws." I showed my relief and sighed.

"Gryffindor was dealt a really unintelligent lot of students the year I was sorted." He smiled ruefully.

"Well, brains isn't everything." Was the response I offered letting him comprehend it however he wanted. He laughed.

"Well, they do have looks, I guess but it'll only get them so far." He chuckled. He wasn't ugly but he was no supermodel. He had chocolate coloured hair and dark blue eyes that were hidden behind glasses. He wasn't tall for a guy but he was taller than me by about half a foot.

"They'll manage somehow." I smiled. Professor Knovachek hushed us and went back to grading his papers. I was looking forward to our next class, Defence. I knew I would probably surprise everyone with my amazing defence abilities. As we were walking to the classroom it was located in, Terry caught up with us.

"Hey, how was Ancient Ruins?" The question was aimed at me rather than Xavier.

"It was good I always enjoys Ruins." I answered him.

"So, Rose, are you any good at defence?" Xavier asked.

"Um… I'm good I guess." I decided modesty was the best policy.

"Alright class, take a seat, open your books to page 54 and read until you reach page 57." Professor Kit Marlowe was an attractive blonde man in his late twenties, and he was making his was over to me.

"Hello," he said quietly so most of the students wouldn't overhear, "you must be Rose?" I nodded and he continued, "I looked at you grades for this class and I was very impressed to if you feel you aren't being challenged or the work is to easy the seventh years take defence during your free period today, Thursday and during you two free period on Friday. Just let me know if you decide that you would like to join them." He left and sat at his desk. I considered what he had said and my plans to change the future.

I really did need a way to get to Snape and possible some other Slytherins and this was the perfect opportunity. After an incredibly easy lesson I decided I should take the seventh year class. I explained it all to Xavier and Terry then stayed behind.

"Sir?" I asked.

He looked up, "Yes, I thought after I observed you today that you would want to take this class. Just stay up here and I'll explain to the class, alright?" I nodded, god I was nervous.

Everyone flooded in and I noticed weird looks from most people but Lily and the Marauder's looked curious.

"Alright class, this is Rose Hallowell, and due to her advanced skills in defence she will be taking the seventh year class rather than the sixth. I suggest you don't baby her because if you do I'll stand by and watch while she destroys you." He chuckled, "There's a free seat next to Mr Snape up the back there, Rose."

Exactly what I wanted, although I was a little uncomfortable with the preferential treatment I was receiving. I sat next to Snape and lushed at the look I received. Why did people feel the need to size me up, my size and appearance betray my magical abilities, I look cute and harmless but my magic is anything but. While the professor went over patronus' loudly, I knew it was load because I kept flinching.

"So you're advanced when it comes to defence then?" Snape drawled but his eyes betrayed him, he was curious.

"MmmHmm, I have major defence skillage." I giggled, let him think you're harmless Rose.

"It'll be interesting to see how you hold up." He commented dryly facing the teacher.

"It will won't it." Then I decided if I was going to make it with the Slytherins I needed to prove myseld. "Professor?" I said softly and luckily he picked up on it.

"Yes, Rose?" he asked smiling but confused.

"I can demonstrate a patronus charm if you like." I smiled attempting to dazzle him, he looked amused if anything.

"We won't be learning the charm, it's auror level and barely anyone manages it at that." He chuckled.

"But I can do it. I've done it before." I almost laughed.

"Really?"

"MmmHmm, I learnt in my fourth year." I grinned.

"Really? Who taught you?" he was curious now and so was Snape, I didn't need to look at him to know, I could feel it rolling off of him in waves.

"My friend Harry, learnt in his third year after he got attacked by a dementer and taught some students the two years later." I smiled.

"Alright, if you think you can." His tone was amused but it was obvious he didn't believe me. I went to the front of the room, turned and a second passed before my mare burst from my raised wand. Take that Snape, not only had I done a patronus but I did it non-verbally!

"Fantastic!" Marlowe enthused, "if you can do it wandlessly then I have no doubt in my mind the rest of the class should be able to do it at least verbally."

I went and sat back down while Professor proceeded to teach everyone the charm and how to do it. Snape looked at me.

"Reggie said you were bright. However he failed to mention your 'skillage' was it?" he was impressed and I was beaming.

"I really like Reggie, he's good at potions," I giggled, "not as good as me but pretty good." I was clearly confusing Snape I was a powerful little witch he knew that but it was my soft quiet voice, gentle and sweet personality and pretty features that confused him.

"I wonder if you're as good as I am at potions?" I asked himself more than me.

"I don't know but it would be fun to find out." I said smiling at me. I enjoyed smiling at him because it was beginning to irritate him.

"Do you ever stop smiling?" he drawled.

"Sometimes, mostly when I cry which isn't often. I wonder if I smile in my slept?" I trailed of to a whisper that was meant for my ears and not his.

"That would be creepy, Hallowell."

"Can I call you Severus if it means you call me Rose?" I queried.

"Alright then, if you want." He was in hook, line and sinker. I do have major skillage don't I.

The class went by easily as I spent the remainder watching Snape, no Severus, attempt to do a patronus. He would have managed it before the end of the lesson if he had let me help him but he refused.

"See you Thursday, Rose." He drawled.

"Bye Severus." My soft voice just got to him before he was out the door, at least, I think it did.

"Hey." Lily said. I smiled at her and said hey back. The Marauder's walked up behind her.

"It's nice to see someone trying to be friends with Severus, he's not good with people." She beamed at me.

"No, it is not nice!" Sirius snapped. He looked angrier than a male Hungarian horntail on steroids that had had its dinner stolen by a fluffy pink poodle. I giggled at the mental image that gave me.

"He's funny, I like him." I said. Lily looked as if Christmas and her birthday had come early and James, Sirius, Remus and Peter scowled.

"So since you didn't want to come to breakfast will you to lunch with us?" Remus asked.

"Sure, I'd love to." I laughed.

When we walked in I sat down and noticed Terry give me a look, Xavier whacked him and mouthed what I guessed to be 'leave Rose alone' not that it did anything.

"So how do you like Hogwart's so far?" Remus asked.

"It's not home but it is nice." I didn't smile this time.

"Oh, what's your new wand like?" Peter asked and I smiled this time.

"Oh, I love it. It's rosewood and phoenix feather, 10 ½ inches." My soft voice was dripping with joy.

"What?!" Lily shrieked, I flinched and Sirius let out a bark, for it could hardly be called a laugh.

"Come sit this us." Remus coaxed.

"Fine, I'll sit with Rose, and join in where I see fit." She huffed.

Lunch was an odd affair. It was riddled with growls and barks from Sirius, yelling from James, shrieking from Lily, exasperation from Remus. So Peter and I had a small quiet conversation about how insane a group we made.

"Tell, me Remus why do we keep Evans around?" Sirius ground out, she had obviously insulted him somehow.

"Because James loves her" insert James blush and Lily's snort here, "and because Rose needs another flower around." Remus chuckled.

"Huh?" James' reply ended up ebing.

"Rose, Lily they're both flowers and you never see a single flower grown by itself." Remus explained.

"That was lame Lupin." Sirius grinned.

"I thought it was sweet, Remus." I beamed.

"Your welcome." He grinned smugly at Sirius for some reason who scowled.

The bell went and I met up with Xavier and Terry, who wanted details. Terry because he was being a busy body and Xavier just wanted to make sure I was happy. The rest of the day was pretty boring. Snape had obviously talked to Reggie during lunch because he was eager to hear about defence class, he even used my term 'skillage'. I hoped I was as prepared to fix things I thought I was because I really liked Reggie and Snape. I liked Xavier and Terry. I liked Nicole, to an extent and I liked Lily and the Marauder's. my time here had been the best of my left so far and hopefully things would only get better. Now that I was hear and I had friends, I wanted to fix things for them and not myself. When I went to my refurbished dorm that afternoon I knew there was nothing that could bring down my mood, not even all the gossip the girls made me sit through.

**a/n: next chapter will be uploaded soon. Be prepared for yelling, pranks and a few Slytherin girls thrown in along the way. Ideas are welcome.**

**xXxVolpexXx**


	4. Slytherins and Stubborn Arseholes

=Four=

_Slytherins and Stubborn Arseholes_

I spent the rest of the week attempting to juggle my ever so involved room mates who wanted gossip 24/7, Terry who had taken to stalking me in the hopes that the Marauder's would back off, Lily who wanted nothing to do with the Marauder's, The Marauder's themselves, Snape, Reggie and the ever so faithful Xavier, Merlin I do not deserve a friend like him.

Things were getting better though. Snape and Reggie must have been vocal about my 'skillage' and their like of me because I often got curious or respective gazes from the Slytherin table. I had to admit I did admire their cunning and resourcefulness. I had the feeling that soon I was going to be approached and interrogated but until then I was my usual quiet smiley self. I was glad that the weekend had finally arrived. I wanted to spend some quality time with Xavier in the library, I was prepared to be stolen away by the Marauder's at some point and I did need to have a chat with Terry which was going to take place now, during breakfast.

"Terry you know your one of my best friends right?" I smiled; it seemed to get me what I wanted in this time. It didn't in the future I can tell you that much.

"Yes, that's so sweet of you Rose." He grinned.

"The Marauder's aren't ever going to be able to replace you okay? Nor you, Xavier, I just enjoy their company every now and then just like you enjoy Mason, Carter and Caleb's company, Terry." I explained softly.

"Okay, I get it. Stop hogging Rosie, huh?" he laughed and tugged my hair, then I laughed with him, "sorry I've been such a git." He chuckled.

"Its okay, can we go out to the pitch this afternoon?" I asked eagerly because I knew he might like some time to have me all to himself, since I was sticking to Xavier this morning.

"Yeah! I can't wait to see what you can do, I need the practise because tryouts are Sunday afternoon." And with that he strutted off to find the guys. Xavier and I looked at each other, snorted then he laughed while I giggled.

"Good thing your good with people, Rose." He was still amused.

"Yeah, or that would have been awkward. Come on let's get to library and steal the good seats before everyone else thinks of it." I felt much more at home now, more at ease with my new friends.

It was a good idea to come early and get goods seats since the library was deserted, for now. It was always busy on the weekends because students were too lazy to do it over the week and then they have two days where they have to rush it to get it done. We settled ourselves in what had become our favourite spot, in the corner by the large window. It wasn't anything special, just a round table with five chairs. We didn't have a zillion essays to rush, we didn't have homework at all we, Xavier and I, just liked to sit and chat in this part of the library.

"So would it be alright if I came out and watched you and Terry play quidditch?" Xavier asked since quidditch our current topic of conversation.

"Sure, Terry shouldn't mind since you don't actually play." I giggled.

"Yeah, I nearly killed everyone but myself at flying lessons, they had me sit out, and the parents would not have been thrilled to receive a letter saying a child on a broom had killed their son/daughter along with the rest of the class." He laughed and I giggled more.

"Well, one day I'm getting you on a broom, Xavier Phillips, that is a promise." I smiled.

"One day when we're both dead an buried and not any danger to anyone but ourselves." He laughed.

"And Merlin." I finished for him. The conversation went on like this for a while and we were both enjoying ourselves immensely. Eventually we were engrossed in a full out wizard's chess war. We were both very good at it so it took as an hour before we finished one game.

"Phillips." A voice rang out tartly, it was Reggie and I couldn't help but smile.

"Do you mind if we have a chat with Rose." Severus sneered.

"It's okay." I reassured him. As much as he disliked conflict he wouldn't have left me without my reassurance.

"I'll see you back at the common room and we'll have lunch, yeah?" he smiled.

"Sure." And with that he left. Reggie slid into the seat to my right, Severus to my left and two girls sat in the seats across from me.

"This is Bellatrix Black" Severus inclined his hand to the heavy lidded girl with black hair, "and Narcissa Black they're both in my year though Narcissa is a year younger." I could match their faces to their future selves and briefly to flashes in the defence class but they hadn't been in class when I had shown off my patronus. I smiled and their expression looked disbelieving.

"So you're the little redhead with all the 'skillage'?" I giggled at the way Bellatrix said skillage and nodded.

"You're not joking are you, Severus?" Narcissa asked sharply.

"Of course not, Cissy," Reggie soothed, "she is the one with all the 'skillage'."

"Well she's going to prove her skill, we're brewing amortentia in Potions and everyone is having trouble. Give us advice as we go along. That will do for a start." Bellatrix said and we got down to brewing the potion.

I had the book in front of me and followed along. Add this here, the colour isn't right add more of this, forget stirring it like its quicker if you do it like so and by the time we had finished a perfect batch of amortentia sat in front of us.

"Alright, I'll admit she has talent." Narcissa said.

"I agree but in our next defence lesson you'll that one lesson to help us produce corporeal patronus' wandlessly. If you can't do it I'll take this next comment back. You do have skill." Bellatrix said. I beamed and she looked taken aback. Was I so hard to believe someone like me could like Slytherins?

"So Reggie, is that all you guys are here for?" I asked.

"Nope now its general conversation time." He chuckled but looked pleased that Bellatrix and Narcissa seemed to have accepted me.

"Am I allowed to call the two of you by your first names?" I asked eagerly, it was a good question since they were both Blacks.

"She calls Regulus and I by our first names." Severus stated.

"Alright." They agreed.

"Cool, Bellatrix and Narcissa it is then." I smiled.

"Why are you so smiley?" Bellatrix asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Severus asked the same thing and I can honestly say I don't know." I giggled.

"So do you spend much time with my cousin?" Narcissa asked. She was testing my knowledge; both Reggie and Sirius were her cousins.

"Do you mean Reggie or Sirius?" I asked.

"Sirius." Both she and Bellatrix seemed pleased.

"A bit, I don't think he likes me much but I like Remus best so I put up with him." I smiled, it was technically the truth. I often put up with Sirius for the sake of spending time with Remus.

"I don't mean to scare you, but you do know that Lupin is a werewolf?" Bellatrix lowered her voice.

"Yes, I do. You tell by their eyes. All werewolves have a dark brown dot in their iris underneath the pupil. A fact you won't find in any book." I barely had to lower my voice for it to be a whisper.

"And you don't care?" Narcissa asked.

"No." I answered. They looked surprised.

"Are you a pureblood?" Reggie asked out of nowhere.

"Does it matter I?" I asked.

"No." they all lied at the same time.

"Yes, I am. I'm French by blood though." I said softly. I kept my tone neutral I didn't want come across as a blood maniac but I didn't want to come across as a blood traitor either, I had to watch myself with these Slytherins. They all smiled and it looked as though they were willing to look past my house and friends. I was in and it had been easy, sort of.

"I was thinking we should all study together Wednesday nights, weren't you?" Bellatrix addressed her sister.

"Yes," Narcissa agreed, "we should."

"Do you want to come and study with us? We're the best at potions." Reggie grinned.

"Sure, I never have anything planned for Wednesday nights anyway." I smiled.

"Well, you should probably go meet up with Phillips, see you around Rose." Bellatrix then left smiling.

"Yes, by Rose." Narcissa joined her sister.

"I like Bellatrix and Narcissa." I commented with a smile.

"We thought you might." Severus smirked and Reggie grinned.

"We'll see you in class, Rose." Reggie said and left with Severus. I packed up and went to go find Xavier.

He was sitting in the common room being asked a lot of questions by Lily. The Marauder's sat back and watched, looking amused. I stood very quickly in the shadows and watched. They wanted to know about why they had seen me with the Slytherins. Xavier just told them that he respected my privacy and had made sure I was okay with being left alone with them, he trusted my judgement. I couldn't make out what else was being said but Remus looked concerned, James worried, Peter was calm but Sirius looked like he was about to go on a murderous rampage. I was touched by their concern but I could take care of myself, I got enough babying in the future and I didn't need it here. I stepped out of the corner, still unnoticed, and walked up so I was at the side of Xavier's chair.

"Hi, what's going on?" I murmured, mostly to Xavier. They needed to know that I was not stupid.

"Look, I'm going to be honest here. We're concerned about why you're hanging out with the Slytherins." James said.

"I like them." I said in a quiet but 'duh' sort of tone.

"They aren't nice, Rose, they're Slytherins-" Sirius started.

"No, really?" I interrupted but it didn't have the desired effect with my voice being as soft as it is.

"And they're dangerous, plain and simple." He finished with a growl.

"Look, my mother taught me to see the best in people. The Slytherins I talk to are witty, cunning, resourceful and funny. I like that. My mother also taught me to acknowledge the bad traits in people and to look past them. They may be dangerous but they haven't done anything wrong yet." I explained, Molly had taught me that, only she had never meant for it to be applied to Slytherins.

"I trust Rose's judgement, if she thinks it's too dangerous or that something is going to go wrong, she'll walk away but until then I don't have a problem with her having friends that are Slytherin." Xavier said. Judging by the look on Sirius' face things would have gotten ugly if Terry hadn't chosen to flounce in with two brooms in hand.

"Hey, I have two brooms so you can borrow one, Rose." Terry smiled and tugged my hair.

"Oh, I was wondering if I could sit and watch in the stands." Xavier said.

"Should be fine." Terry said.

The Marauder's and Lily looked like they wanted to finish the conversation.

"SHIT! Quidditch try-outs are… NOW!" Sirius yelled and with that we, excluding Lily, went down to the pitch.

Watching the try-outs was no where near as fun as acting playing and Merlin how I missed being in the air. While Sirius and James went over everyone who had played I finally got in the air with Terry. We had fun with the quaffle and one of the girls who had tried out for chaser came and joined us. I was having so much fun. Nothing was as good as being in the air, it made everything okay for awhile, it made you forget your troubles and just relax. It took me a few minutes at adjust to playing with different players but soon we were perfectly synchronised.

Terry made the team which was great. James and Sirius looked _really _put out. I think they were surprised at how good I really am. I giggled at them and they huffed and muttered to themselves looking annoyed. Too bad they wouldn't let me play. I mean, I can handle myself. I've fought deatheaters and lived, survived being possessed by Lord Voldemort but they don't know that. Oh well at least I could fly with Terry whenever I wanted.

"Wow, you _are _good." Terry laughed.

"I said I was."

"Good was an understatement. You could give James a run for his money." Sirius laughed and our touchy topis from earlier were tossed aside. I had to admit teenaged Sirius surprised me. I hadn't expected him to be so… well, I can't think of the word but I did expect him to be livelier and pull a lot of funny and amusing pranks. Then again, we had only been at school for a week and I had caused a bit of a commotion.

While the new Gryffindor quidditch team practised I sat and talked with Xavier, Peter and Remus. I liked this Peter he was a good person with a nice sense of humour. Remus and I talked defence. I found it really weird to be giving advice to the man who taught me defence in my second year (he was the one to get me really interested in it). He was having trouble with his patronus, which I found funny when he was the one to teach Harry how to do it. Peter threw in his two sickles here and their on the defence topic. Xavier wasn't to animated since we were talking about seventh year defence and not sixth.

"Are you lot done gossiping like old ladies, I'm starving!" Sirius barked, only he was grinning.

"When are you not hungry?" Remus muttered.

"When I'm shagging someone." He replied as if to say 'duh'.

"You're such a sleaze." Peter said.

"Yes, I am." Sirius smirked, "Women just fall at my feet, well except Evans and Rose, there."

"Well, if you're waiting for me to swoon, you'll be waiting their a long time." I think the only reason any of the Marauder's can pick up my voice from a distance is because they're animagi.

James, Remus, Pater, Xavier and Terry burst out laughing and Sirius muttered something looking rather annoyed. I was glad when it was time for dinner, it had been a long day and all I wanted to do was eat and then sleep. I ate dinner with the girls in my dorm because they didn't give me a choice. I noted Remus' amusement as I was dragged away, James was busy flirting with Lily and getting slapped, Peter had already begun to pile his plate and Sirius still looked annoyed.

Each blonde took her time to describe her day in detail. Amara had spent the day in the Library attempting to finish her Herbology essay with Nicole, Jean and Tiffany. When they had finished each of them had a date in various empty classrooms or broom closets. I ate slowly concentrating on the cutting of my food and taking my time to chew each small mouthful. They didn't seem to mind my silence; in fact, I think they liked the fact I didn't want to fit in with them.

"So have you slept with Black yet?" Tiffany asked me. I choked. What?

"Oh, she means either of them." Amara expanded and I knew from their smiles I was going red, who wouldn't?

"No." I just managed to say but I don't think they heard.

"Sirius is really good." Jean grinned and sighed, obviously remembering something I didn't want to know about.

"Good? You mean a God!" Nicole laughed and Tiffany nodded.

"Wait, you've all slept with him?" I managed to say amidst my disgust.

"Yeah, you'd be hard pressed to find a girl other than Evans who hasn't." Amara laughed.

"Oh, only girls fourth year and above, he isn't a paedophile." Tiffany stated. I was never going to be able to look at Sirius the same way again.

I just about exploded with happiness when Xavier and Terry rescued me. I had heard that Sirius was ladies man but there is a big difference between being a ladies man and a man-whore. Now I had to live in a dorm with four tall effing blondes that all slept with Sirius, what fun! Hardly.

I went to bed early. At least I had all Sunday to get over my disgust. There was no way I was going to be able to be friendly and smiley with him anymore. I wasn't frigid but I didn't like guys who just used girls like that, whether or not they minded. I was asleep before they came in to sleep.

I did not wake up to the sound of my alarm that morning. Instead I woke to find myself being poked by Remus, with the rest of the Marauder's standing behind him grinning. I groaned and closed my eyes. They had to be kidding? I didn't dare look at the clock. I then received a sharp poke to my shoulder.

"Go 'way, Mooney" I sighed a rolled around.

"Get up, Rose." Sirius ordered. When I huffed and made no effort to move, someone suddenly picked me up and dumped me on the floor. I felt the beginnings of tears and looked up. I was really beginning to dislike Sirius Black.

"It's…" I looked at the clock and sobbed, "One in the morning." I finished with a sniffle.

"God, we wake her up in the hopes of her having fun pranking with us and Sirius makes her cry." James chuckled and shook his head.

"Oh, sure, lay all the blame on me." Sirius huffed.

"Well, you picked her up and dumped her on the floor." Peter snapped. They were so loud, how were my dorm mates sleeping through this. Remus must have noticed my gaze and guessed where my mind was wondering.

"We used a silencing charm around their beds." He smiled softly, "Sorry, we woke you, we'll leave if you want."

"No we won't," Sirius barked, "She's up now, she might as well join us."

I sniffled, "Fine, I'll get dressed then."

"Feel free to change in front of us." He grinned. I felt more tears well up. What had I done to deserve this at one in the morning?

"SIRIUS!" they yelled at him.

"Why are you so loud?!" I was crying now. Good, since when did I get so emotional?

"Now, look what you did? She's crying!" Peter wasn't impressed nor was Remus. James on the other hand wasn't bothered and that was probably because these were the sorts of things he did all the time concerning Lily.

I grabbed a pair of jeans and long sleeved shirt and went into the bathroom. I dressed quickly, put on a pair of sneakers and looked at them. James looked amused.

"What?" I uttered.

"You really _are _tiny." He laughed and I went red.

I yawned, "Okay, let's get going them."

"Boy, do we have a treat for you," James said as we descended the stairs.

"Wait, how do you get into my dorm? No, forget it I don't want to know." I muttered off and continued walking. The Marauder's had paused behind me but then followed me whispering among themselves.

"So here's the plan," James started as they lead me along a corridor, "first we're going to prank Slughorn, then McGonagall…"

"But I _like_ McGonagall." I whispered to myself.

"Jeez, we're not going to kill her." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Then we're going to go after Marlowe." James grinned evilly.

"Flirting with students, the man-whore." Sirius spat.

"You're one to talk." I murmured. The Marauder's turned and looked at me.

"What?" Remus asked. I decided to go along with him and be a little bold.

"I said he's one to talk, don't think the girls in my room don't talk." I kept my voice soft; I didn't want to start an argument.

"For Christ's sake, you didn't sleep with all the girls in her dorm did you?" Remus voice was disbelieving but he knew better.

"He did." I said, "And every other girl with the exception of Lily, third years and below, his relatives and me."

"Couldn't keep it in your pants, could you?" Peter scoffed.

"Look, I have an abnormally high amount of testosterone, okay?" Sirius spat back.

"Do we have to talk about this when I'm present?" I murmured.

"Good point, if you so much a _touch _Lily, I will kill you." James commented a minute later.

"Why would I touch Evans?" Sirius snorted. I sighed, knowing where this was going.

"Are you saying she's ugly?!" James yelled.

"Okay! Cut it out! We're supposed to impress Rose with our pranking skills but instead we're disgusting her with locker room conversation." Peter had had enough and so had I. I couldn't help but hug him, he looked surprised.

"Thank you." I smiled. Why did Sirius looked pissed off so often? Did he not like me or not like that I liked Slytherins? God, I give up on men.

"So what are we doing to each of the teachers?" I giggled. It had the desired effect. All four of the boys grinned.

"We're off to see Slughorn first. We're going to have him dressed up in pink and purple and…" Peter trailed.

"We'll make him look like a hooker!" Sirius suggested triumphantly. I burst out into laughter and Sirius wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"I told you that you'd have fun!" he grinned cockily and I rolled my eyes at Remus who stifled his laughter and snorted instead.

We broke into Slughorn's private with the help of a knife Sirius owned. I wasn't quite sure how it worked but it did. Using a bunch jinxes, hexes and charms Slughorn was dressed in a tight pink shirt (eww) and a purple denim skirt (double eww). His hair was dyed pink and each side of his moustache was died purple and plaited. One complex charm made sure it couldn't be removed by magic, it had to wear of. I giggled at the thought of Slughorn stuck like that for and entire 48 hrs.

"Having fun?" James asked me, smiling.

"Yes." I giggled.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Lily shrieked, I flinched, Sirius snorted and Remus smiled.

"Lower your voice, Evans, poor little Rosie's always flinching when you shriek." Sirius laughed.

"Well?" She huffed, running her fingers through her hair.

"We're…" James started.

"Off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz." Sirius sung in my ear and I laughed.

"We're pulling pranks. Do you want to join us?" I offered knowing she'd say no. She wouldn't turn us in; only because I hadn't mentioned it was the teachers who were our victims.

"Have fun then, but if you get her in trouble…" Lily trailed off, leaving things up to the boy's imagination, and walked back to her dorm.

Next on our list was Professor McGonagall. We didn't need to open the door to her chambers, we vanished the glass from one of the windows outside (We flew out there. Then Remus and Peter levitated niffler up to us were we would shove them through the window. Preparing pranks isn't always fun I'll tell you that. It took us nearly an hour to do this one. Merlin knows how many nifflers ended up in her chambers when we had run out of them. Professor Cooper was using the nifflers for his fourth year class, or he had planned to. We put the glass back in the windows, flew down and headed off for Kit Marlowe's chambers.

"What are we going to do to him?" I wondered aloud.

"We haven't decided, got any ideas?" Peter asked. What sort of prank could we play on Marlowe; I didn't really want to but… I was having fun.

"How about we jinx him to say really inappropriate things to everyone?" I giggled.

"It's good but we've done it before." Sirius said and James nodded in confirmation.

"I know." I burst into a fit of giggles. I walked over and tugged on Sirius' sleeve to get him to lean down. There was no way I could reach his ear otherwise. I whispered my idea and he coughed and then grinned.

"What? What?! I want to know!" James whined.

"She suggested we do the jinx and pour shrinking solution down the front of his pants as well."

"Brilliant, now all we have to do is get our hands on some shrinking solution." Remus chuckled.

"We could break into Slughorn's private storeroom?" I suggested.

"Spoken like a true Marauder!" James laughed, "I knew you'd be fun with hair that colour."

"So you judge how fun people are by their hair colour?" I wasn't sure I understood.

"Yes, you have prettier darker red hair than Evans, so you're more fun." Sirius said as if it were a fact I ought to have known.

"Okay." I shrugged and we set about robbing Professor Slughorn. The storeroom was full of well labelled vials. Remus soon found it.

"Medium or Extreme Strength?" he asked.

"Extreme." The boys answered.

"Hey, how about this? It turns people's genitals," I giggled, "into the genitals of the opposite sex."

"You said that so properly." Peter laughed and I went read and muttered a 'shut up'.

"Steal that. How about this? It causes inappropriate hallucination?!" Sirius yelled.

"Good, get that one." James smiled.

"We should only use the shrinking solution; we should save the others for another time." Remus said and everyone nodded.

I waited outside while they took care of Professor Marlowe. I yawned and sat down. I had the feeling they were doing something extra to humiliate him but I was tired. Probably from being woken at one in the morning. I ended up falling asleep.

"Rose... Rose… ROSE!" Nicole yelled.

"I'm up." I muttered sitting up in bed.

"You have got to come down to the great hall and see what happened!" She waited for me to throw on some clothes and dragged me down the stairs. I stopped to talk to Xavier and she just left. Breakfast was waiting. Only I never got to eat breakfast did I? On my way to the hall I was stopped by Reggie. Xavier knew to just go and enjoy breakfast; hopefully he wouldn't say anything to Terry. The one thing I could not handle was Terry joining the Marauder's in trying to get me to stay away from them.

"Have fun last night?" Severus drawled and I smiled at him.

"Yes."

"I never took you for the pranks sort." Bellatrix commented.

"I'm not but they didn't seem as if I had much of a choice, so I thought I might as well try and make an effort to enjoy myself." I explained.

"Well, I'd watch out. Sirius is the type of guy to say you helped. He thinks detentions are some sort trophy proving how great their pranks are." Reggie explained.

"Yes, I know. He's very… I still can't sum him up in one word. He's immature, brash, a sleaze and has no idea how to treat women." I huffed remembering how he had picked me up out of bed and just dumped me on the floor.

"Do you want to have breakfast in the kitchens?" Narcissa asked eagerly. She was a nice person, they all were. Why was I the only one who could see it?

"Sure."

The conversation over breakfast was easy going. They, unlike the Gryffindor's didn't feel the need to yell. They were loud but normally so which I found relieving. My relationship the Slytherins was so simple while the one I had with the Marauder's was so awkward, though I blamed it all on Sirius.

"So I heard that you can play quidditch really well." Bellatrix smiled a genuine smile.

"Yes, I can."

"What position?" Reggie was eager to ask.

"I play chaser and seeker. I prefer chaser though because it meant I was less likely to get bludgered." I giggled.

"I play seeker for Slytherin." He grinned. I hadn't known that, he didn't come across as the quidditch type but Sirius played so maybe it was genetic.

"Really, I didn't know that." I voiced my earlier thought.

"I think it runs in the family, the ability to play quidditch I mean." I giggled at that since I had that thought only moments ago.

"Alright I'm going to come straight out and say it but what's your secret?" Severus asked and I looked at him. What had I done to give him the impression that I was keeping a secret? My talent in defence and potions wasn't enough to give him that idea. That could just be passed off as intelligence. I studied his face and he was serious.

"I'm not keeping a secret, Severus. I don't know why you would think that." I kept my voice soft and looked him right in the eyes. He dropped it but I knew he was going to pursue it at a later date.

The rest of breakfast blew by and Reggie and I said goodbye to Bellatrix, Narcissa and Severus.

"Finally, every time I want to spend alone time with you they just incite themselves along." He looked irritated. I giggled. I studied the differences between Sirius and Reggie. The height was the first thing, Reggie was shorter. Sirius had dark grey eyes and Reggie's were blue but they both had the same pitch black hair and classically shaped nose. Their personalities were the biggest difference though.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked him.

"The differences between you and Evans." He said and I laughed, "When you first arrived everyone expected you to this miniature version of her. As you can imagine everyone was surprised when I told them otherwise."

"I like Lily, she's nice." And I did, I just hated it when she shrieked.

"What about my brother?"

"Why do you ask?" I was curious to know the answer.

"I don't know, just the way he looks at you. I know him well enough to know when he's out of his depth." Reggie snickered and I opened my mouth then snapped it shut.

"I'm… out of his depth?"

"Yes, he can't figure you out and it irritates him. Amuses me though." He laughed and I whacked his arm.

"I don't know if I like your brother." I muttered.

"So, I irritate him," I continued, "does that mean he doesn't like me, or…"

"I don't know. It's not like I'm able to go up and ask him. Try the werewolf." He huffed.

"Remus." I said.

"What?"

"Remus, his name is Remus. I've never understood why people address everyone by their last names."

"Fine, Remus then. But I'm only going to call him that when it's just the two of us. I don't want to get hexed to death." Reggie gave in. Well, at least I was getting somewhere; he was nowhere near as horrid as everyone had made him out to be.

"Hey!" someone called out. I turned and groaned when I saw Sirius jog up to us.

"Sirius." Reggie managed but not politely.

"Regulus." He replied and I laughed. I couldn't help it. They were brothers and the way they treated each other was ridiculous.

"Rose, I'm sorry to interrupt," I snorted, "but Lily really wants to see you." Sirius said uncomfortably.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow Reggie." We said goodbye and I followed Sirius around randomly for a few minutes.

"Lily doesn't need to see me, does she?" I asked knowing the answer.

"What do you see in him?" Sirius turned to face me.

"You make it sound like I'm dating him."

"Are you?" not only was it accusing but it was worried too.

"No, I really like Reggie but I barely know him." He looked like he was trying to figure out how to say, or ask, something. I guessed Sirius didn't have serious conversations with women, at all. My neck was beginning to hurt from looking up at him.

"You are good person but you're so naïve, Rose."

"Naïve, you think I'm naïve!" that was the last straw, "I am not naïve!"

"You don't understand how dangerous the Slytherins are!" he yelled.

"Yes, yes I do! But so far I'm the only person with enough guts, with a strong enough backbone, to try and help them, to do something about it!" I yelled.

"You don't think I tried! I did and it didn't work!" Sirius snapped, I guessed he meant his brother. I knew I was crossing a thin line but he needed to hear me.

"Maybe you were going about it wrong, or maybe, maybe you were the wrong person to do it!" I didn't like the pained and angry expression he was wearing.

"YOU… FINE THEN, HAVE IT YOUR WAY! Just don't come crying to me when everything blows up in your face. God, I hate you! Why the hell did Remus have to find you cute and _funny_! Why don't you just go back to wherever you came from?!" He yelled and stormed off. That hurt. I came here to save him and a lot of other people, not that they know this, and this is the way he treats. I'm only trying to do the right thing.

I walked off. I didn't bother with trying to hide the tears, I just didn't care. God, I knew a lot about Sirius Black but I didn't know he was a stubborn arsehole. I walked around for a while until I had calmed down and went back to my dorm. The second I saw all the blondes sitting around giggling, I felt the tears start streaming.

"Awwwww, what's wrong?" Nicole asked looking worried.

"Nothing, it's nothing." I muttered. I was never going pranking ever again and Sirius Black could drop dead. I was tempted to give up, to go home but I realised I couldn't. The damage was already done and home didn't exist anymore.

Xavier and Terry, according to Jean, were downstairs with Nicole and worried. I told her to tell them that I was just tired and missing home. They seemed to accept it or just agree to leave me to wallow in self pity. Merlin was I grateful for the friends I did have here. I came to the conclusion that if people wanted to be friends with me then they would have to come to me. I'd had enough of going to them. I was already in with the people I needed to be friends with. For now, it was enough.

**a/n: Sirius can be a be a jerk, huh? I have no idea what'll be in the next chapter so hopefully you'll be surprised.**

**xXxVolpexXx **


	5. Problems With Mankind

=Five=

_Problems with Mankind_

The next few weeks were so much nicer, simpler even, than the one before. Only this week I was completely depressed. Funny, how these things work out, isn't it? After my confrontation with Sirius I had somewhat of a breakdown. I knew being a Gryffindor and befriending Slytherins would be difficult but I was up to it, or I had been. Now I only ever looked forward to seeing Xavier. At the news we would be having a Hogsmeade weekend I tried to cheer up but it didn't work. Terry, the poor boy, had taken to mothering me. Not only was it incredibly sweet but it was also incredibly embarrassing. Lily had been asking after me apparently but I just wasn't in the mood.

"Have you ever been to Hogsmeade?" Terry's question brought my attention back to reality.

"No, never."

"You'll enjoy yourself, I promise." He smiled and tugged that particular lock of hair. He seemed to be promising a lot of things lately. Xavier sat down and I noticed that the common room was practically uninhabited, except for us and the Marauder's. I was glad dinner was over, it seemed the sadder I was the louder the noise around me became.

"I'll go with you if you want to buy clothes and stuff." Xavier offered. It was a sweet offer really; I know how uncomfortable shopping with girls is for guys.

"Thanks but I'm not really in the mood for shopping. Look, I feel really cooped up so I'm just going to go and wander for a bit, okay?" I did feel the need to get out of there. The looks I was being sent by the Marauder's were making me feel uneasy.

"Okay, just don't stay out to long." Terry looked worried, again.

"And don't get caught by Filch either." Xavier said and Terry headed up the staircase, "Seriously, though, just relax, think everything through. When my mum gets frustrated she enjoys being outdoors, go walk near the lake or something but don't go too far into the forbidden forest."

"You really trust my judgement, don't you, Xavier?" I was touched, honestly.

"You are not a child Rose; I trust that you can take care of yourself." Xavier explained and smiled. I gave him a quick hug and set off for the lake feeling happier than I had in weeks. There was this one spot I had always loved. It was a large rock surrounded by trees and shrubs with a canopy of moss and vines above it. I sat on the rock and soon my mind began to wonder. It felt like forever until a voice woke me from my musings.

"What are you doing out here, of all places, alone Rose?" I looked up to see Professor Kit Marlowe looking down at me before he took a seat next to me.

"I'm trying to figure things out but it isn't working." I murmured. There was something about Professor Marlowe that I couldn't put my finger on.

"One of the things I hated most when I was your age." He laughed.

"How long ago was that?" I found myself smiling and laughing.

"About ten years ago." He chuckled.

"So you're twenty six?" I asked.

"Yes, I am. The youngest Professor teaching at the present."

"Wow, you're younger than I thought, I gestimated about 29."

"Gestimated?" he looked both confused and amused.

"Yes, gestimation is a process that you use both guessing and estimation to find an answer, you're more likely to be correct that way." I giggled.

"Fabulously twisted logic, little madam." he laughed.

"So I hear you've made a best friend in Xavier?" he commented offhandedly.

"Yes, he's everything I ever wanted in a best friend. Anyone would be lucky to have him." I turned to look at Marlowe. His smiley face sobered a little.

"I hear the Marauders have taken an interest in you too."

"Apparently, though I don't understand why. I'm not popular, I never have been. I'm so quiet compared to everyone here."

"They're good boys but they aren't good when it comes to manners. I don't think I've ever heard a please or thank you let alone an apology. Potter and Black in particular, they're both very confident and a bit spoiled if you ask me." Marlowe turned to me.

"I heard about the argument you had with Black. Do you want to talk about it?" he looked genuinely concerned.

"It's just… he doesn't approve of my friendship with the Slytherins." I said honestly. It was easy to forget Kit Marlowe was a teacher.

"If you ask me the Slytherins could use some new perspectives. You're interesting to them and that means they spend more time on you and less on trouble." He chuckled. It was getting late but I didn't really want to head in just yet.

"Have you noticed the sort of relationship Potter and Evans have going on?" Marlowe got up and sat right in front of me rather than next to me and grinned.

"Yes, she pretends to hate him but she really likes him, more than he realises. She just wants him to grow up and mature a bit more before she actually gives in, I think." I smiled, remembering all the time I had spent with Lily.

"She'll be waiting a while I reckon." Marlowe laughed and I sighed.

"So how do you like the Marauders?"

"I like Remus and Peter the best, then probably James. I don't think I like Sirius at all at the moment."

"Yes, Lupin is a very good person. Pettigrew's come into his own since third year but Potter and Black haven't changed much. I hope they do though, it would be such a shame to have that much magical talent go to waste." Up until now Marlowe had sounded like a friend but that comment was typically teacher.

"Give them time though, boys aren't decently mature until they've left school and they never mature fully, I would know." Marlowe laughed.

"Sirius isn't just immature, he's moody. He's like a clique of bipolar pms-ing horridious blondes." I grumbled but smiled when Marlowe burst into laughter.

"It's getting late; we should probably head up before we get ourselves caught. I don't think a student and her teacher being caught walking through halls together would earn much approval." He chuckled at the thought and I yawned.

"And there is that too. You look like you could use a good nights sleep." And he was right. I hadn't been sleeping well. We continued to talk as we walked. Marlowe, or Kit, as he had asked me to call him in private, had had a sister called Rosa, a younger sister. She had died of Pneumonia a couple of years ago. I, apparently, was a lot like her. Truth be told, Kit was like the big brother I had wanted but never received. It was nice to have an adult to confide in, Xavier was great but sometimes certain situations called for an adult's point of view.

I trailed my way to Gryffindor tower where I was greeted by a nearly empty common room except for Lily and the Marauders. I didn't like the look on Lily's face; it was one that clearly said 'you've been avoiding me and I'm not happy' as well as…

"Where have you been? I was so worried! Xavier mentioned you went for a walk and when he went to bed asked me to wait up for you. Do you realise that it's past curfew and midnight?" Lily said quickly but not loudly, thank Merlin.

"I'm sorry if you were worried, I just walked down to the lake and sat thinking. I lost track of time that's all." I explained. Remus looked the least worried, more concerned and curious too. Sirius looked positively seething.

"Do you know how dangerous the forbidden forest is? You could have gotten hurt or Merlin only knows." She was beginning to rant so I cut her off.

"I'm not a child, Lily. I can take care of myself."

"How?" Sirius challenged, "You're what five foot three, very thin, and you don't even have your wand on you."

God, I hated feeling as if I was losing. I didn't want them to start treating me like a little girl like everyone else. That plan wasn't going too well since I had started crying again. I really need Pomphrey to check my hormone levels or something.

"I wasn't alone." I said lowering my voice.

"With who?" Lily demanded.

"Kit err… Professor Marlowe."

"WHAT?! What were you doing with a professor?!" Sirius snapped.

"Talking, what do you think? I was upset, I had had a bad day in a series of bad days and I couldn't stand sticking with Xavier, Terry, Nicole or anyone and ruining their fun so I left the tower. Marlowe was walking too and he stopped to talk to me. If he hadn't I wouldn't have even realised how late it was." I explained, wiping tears away from my face in an attempt to stop myself from looking like complete and utter crap the next morning.

"Really?" James sounded disbelieving.

I just shook my head, "I can't believe you'd think I'd do something as pathetic as consort with a teacher." I headed upstairs to my dorm, I didn't want to stick around and face another Spanish inquisition.

"Hey, you're still up." I noticed Nicole sitting on her bed with a book in her hand.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. To be honest I'm completely lost." She sighed.

"Tell me about it. I just don't what to do anymore." I smiled grimly.

"Yeah, I heard Lupin talking to Evans. Apparently, Black talked to the other Marauders after the two of you argued. According to Lupin he was absolutely pissed. I've known Black since my first year, hell; I've slept with the man! I've seen him yell at and abuse Slytherins, I've seen him get revenge but I've never seen him as angry as he was after your run in with him." Nicole said lowering her voice, neither of us wanted this to be overheard by the rest of the girls.

"I just can't figure him out. One second I'm funny, then I'm a child, then I'm naive, then a traitor and today a slut. He's just so moody and I can't keep up. I honestly don't see how my being friends with Slytherins affects him personally. It's not like he talks to Reggie." I sighed and looked at Nicole. She looked as though she didn't know either.

"Despite what people think he's actually really intelligent, just as smart as Remus. I find it hard to think someone as simple and sweet as you could confuse him. I'm sorry I can't be of more help. I'm just as lost when it comes to boys." She gave a small laugh.

"What problems are you having? I asked disbelievingly, she was gorgeous and had many boys vying for her attention. Maybe I'd feel better if I could help someone else out.

"Basically I like this guy and he doesn't know I exist." Her small smile faltered. I knew there was more to Nicole than a superficial blonde.

"I'm sure he must." I said.

"Even if he does know I exist it doesn't matter. I'm not the sort of girl he goes for; he probably thinks I'm a dumb blonde." She looked like she was going to cry and I felt my heart tug.

"If you just show him the real you then he might like that side of you." I suggested.

"There's no point, I've liked him for a very long time and if he hasn't noticed in the last three years he's not going to." Nicole sniffled and I cuddled up to her. She had liked this guy for three years and he had never taken notice of her. I had to help her but I had the feeling that she wasn't going to give me his name. I knew I'd have to do some digging to find out. It felt nice to have someone else to concentrate on and before I knew it I had fallen asleep on Nicole's bed next to her.

***

The next morning I woke up without being shaken or yelled at. Nicole was sitting on her trunk brushing her hair.

"Good morning." She smiled at me.

"Morning yes, good I'm not so sure about." I muttered and she laughed.

"Do you want to go to Hogsmeade? We could shop and eat and just talk. If we're going to be unhappy we might as well be unhappy together." I coaxed.

"Okay, I could use some new shoes." She sniffed.

"I could use some clothes that don't make me look tiny." I muttered and Nicole laughed.

"Good luck with that."

"Hey!" I scolded.

"Come on, let's get going." She smiled. I thought I'd try my luck.

"So do I get to know the name of this guy who hasn't ever noticed you?" I asked quietly so no one would overhear, not that they would have at my normal volume.

"No, I just… I'm just not comfortable telling you yet. Maybe another time or you might even figure it out before I'm ready." She sighed.

The walk down to Hogsmeade was nice and peaceful. Nicole and I chatted away amiably about anything and everything that came into our minds. Terry and Xavier ended up joining us as we strolled along. Terry felt the need to raise his voice outdoors so I was constantly flinching but it made me feel better when he would tug my hair after. Xavier wasn't looking for anything particular, he told me, just out to relax and maybe have fun. I had to agree with him there. Nothing sounded better then retail therapy when Nicole stumbled into a robe shop. Terry and Xavier shared a not-so-thrilled look and followed us in. Nicole's spirit, and mine for that matter, deflated at the sight of the Marauders.

"Oh, hey look at this Nicole!" I smiled. I had immediately spotted a gorgeous ivory coloured knitted cashmere shirt.

"Oooh, pretty. Go try it on; it would look good on you. Oh, and pair it with a black, or dark brown skirt." She said before her attention was captured by something red and silky.

I tried to avoid eye contact with Lily as well as the Marauders. I just wasn't in the mood today. I tried the outfit on. I would have preferred the black skirt but it made me look too pale so I went with the brown one.

"Hey, Rose?" I turned to see Remus standing. Lily looked scared, Sirius looked very annoyed and I caught a glimmer of shame while James and Peter were looking at either the floor or the walls with morbid fascination.

"Yes?"

"Can I talk to you outside for a moment?" he was calm, which didn't surprise me because he was Remus, and I knew Remus so well. I turned to Nicole who looked apprehensive.

"Okay, can we make it quick? Nicole and I wanted to stop off at Honeydukes before lunch." I explained and Nicole looked relieved as she watched me walk through the door. I stood outside and turned to face him.

"I wanted to apologise for yesterday night. They were just worried, that's what friends do." Remus smiled fondly at me. I recognised that smile; he had always smiled at me like that in the future.

"No Remus, they should apologise if the want me to forgive them. You shouldn't be doing this. They need to grow up and learn for themselves. You can't do everything for them forever. I know they were worried, I would have been too, but I wouldn't have jumped down their throats like that. I don't like being ganged up on, Remus. I'm only little and there were five of you, all seventh years too. I don't like to be smothered. I hate being thought of as incapable or childlike, okay?" I explained. As I did I saw what I usually saw in the old Remus. There was intent listening, the determination to please me and them, the understanding and depth of his interpersonal intelligence too.

"I get it. Lily won't take too long, she'll apologise before the end of the day and so will Peter. James will take a day or two and Sirius will take even longer if he apologises at all, the stubborn arsehole." Remus shook his head with a smile and I giggled.

"What's so funny, Rose?" he smiled and it lit up his face.

"I call Sirius a stubborn arsehole all the time." I laughed. Remus joined in and amidst the laughter said,

"He is though. Mind you, he's our stubborn arsehole and we wouldn't have him any other way, maybe a little less stubborn, a little less moody, a little less of an arsehole… a little less sleazy and a little less…"

"So basically we all wish Sirius was less like Sirius?" I snorted and doubled over laughing out loud as Remus followed suite.

"Sounds about right." He laughed.

"What is so funny, huh?" Sirius grumbled. He, Lily, James and Peter had come to investigate. Remus and just looked at each other before we burst out laughing. It took us a few minutes to calm down.

"Good chat, Rose. See you around then." Remus smiled and dragged Lily and the Marauders away. That piqued my curiosity. Had James and Lily got together yet? A shriek caught my attention and I watched Lily slap James and stalk off. I guess that means the answer to my question is 'no'.

"Did Evans just slap Potter?" Nicole asked, suddenly at my side, she sounded amused.

"Yep, I don't know why though," I turned to her, "do you want to get something to eat or go back to school and head for the kitchens?"

"Kitchens sound good." She mumbled returning to her sombre, as of late, personality.

***

"Hey Rose!"

Hearing my name I turned around to see James Potter running down the hall towards me and I wasn't surprised. Peter and Lily had apologised a couple of days ago. Sirius was refusing to apologise, Remus had said.

James' hand flew to the back of his head and it proceeded to mess up his hair.

"Look, I'm really sorry for that situation a couple of days ago. We were way out of line, so yeah." He garbled out looking ridiculous.

"Thanks James." I said trying to resist the urge to laugh at him. It was then Sirius chose to come bounding up, grinning like the mad fool he was.

"Oh," he started, noticing my presence but shrugging it off, "Guess who I have a date with tonight in a broom closet?"

James grinned, "No idea, let's hear it?"

"Marie Fischer."

"No way, she never puts out. Never. I've tried at least three times. You lucky…" he coughed when he realised I was still there

"Marie Fischer was in the infirmary this morning. She's fine to go out on that date. I hope you like syphilis." I said merrily to Sirius and went on my way. As I left I could hear James roaring with laughter and then saying that she did put out after all. Like I cared. Just for the record that was not a lie, I had my finger slammed in the dorm door by Tiffany that morning and went to the infirmary. The only reason I had overheard Marie Fischer was because Madam Pomfrey decided to give her a lecture on pre-marital sex.

I met up with Nicole for Charms. I was determined to find out who she was crushing on. If it was Terry, which I personally hoped it wasn't because they weren't a good match, then it would be no problem setting them up since he was crushing on her. Part of me felt as if I knew the person she was crushing on, like I actually knew who it was but couldn't remember which was silly since she hadn't told me. Unluckily for me, but fortunately for Nicole who had been trying to get me to stop asking questions, we were being paired up for assignments. The chances of Nicole and I being paired up was minimal.

"Okay, so Michaels and Pritchard…" Flitwick went down the list until he got to, "Graham and Wellington, Clarke and Hallowell."

I decided to stay where I was since I had no idea who Clarke was. Hopefully no one I would dislike.

"Hey." A voice greeted and my eyes snapped forward onto a gorgeous blonde. I couldn't help but smile.

"I'm Rose."

"Logan."

From there we hit it off pretty well. I didn't fail to notice Nicole spying on us from the opposite end of the room. I hoped it wasn't Logan that she had a crush on because that could get awkward.

"So you're friends with Graham and Phillips, aren't you?" Logan asked. He wasn't being condescending I realised, just curious.

"Yes, why?"

"Graham is very… fashionable and Phillips is quiet and studious."

"So basically you're saying Nicole is known for being stupid and easy and that Xavier is a nerd and a loser?" I had had plenty of experience with guys saying things like that. If he thought I was stupid he had another thing coming.

"No… I just meant that you're friends with the both of them even though they're so different from each other. You talk to Fletcher whose quidditch obsessed; you seem to be very diverse in your taste in people." Logan smiled.

"Okay, I'm naturally loyal when it comes to my friends so when there's even the slightest chance you're insulting them…" I tried to explain.

"You defend them, I get it."

I was relieved that he understood. I was rather disappointed when class finished. Nicole left with Terry, who continued to hound her in the hopes of a date. Logan and I continued on chatting. Back in my time it was difficult to find a guy who just wanted to talk without having ulterior motives. As it turns out Logan is a Hufflepuff, something that surprised me. I would have thought he would have been a Ravenclaw, not that it really mattered what house he belonged to.

"Hey!" an angry voice cut in from down the corridor and I couldn't help but groan. Logan and I came to a stop.

"Is it you or me that Black is going to be yelling at?" I looked up to see Logan smiling and I huffed.

"Merlin only knows, to be honest." I said stiffly. It hadn't taken Sirius long to reach us, unfortunately.

"Clarke, get lost. Now." Sirius growled. Logan looked at him and then turned to me.

"It's fine. I'll talk to you later Logan." I smiled meekly. He left but not happily.

"And don't come near her again!" Sirius shouted after him then turned on me.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Well, I was having a conversation." I muttered darkly, refusing to crane my neck in order to look him face to face.

"Clarke is a sleaze." Sirius spat.

"That's rich coming from you!" I laughed, he had some nerve. I wished Xavier was here but he was in Arithmancy. I had a free period and I got the feeling I wasn't going to get any studying done. I'd be too busy trying to bury Sirius' dead body.

"What's up with Graham?" he suddenly asked.

"None of your business, it's not like you care." I yelled, how dare he just change the subject like that and pretend it didn't matter. Who the hell does he think he is?

"That is not true." Sirius snapped.

"Yes, it is! If you don't care about the fact that you're upsetting me by being… being… I don't know what but I know I don't appreciate it, then you sure as hell don't care about Nicole. Just leave me alone!" I yelled. I was getting so sick of this!

"Hey, Rose, Sirius, what's going on?" we both turned to see James, Remus and Peter walking up to us.

"Nothing much." Sirius chuckled. His mood shifted so suddenly, as if we hadn't just been yelling at each other. His eyes betrayed him though; they looked angry and satisfied, as if his goal had been to drive Logan away.

"I'm sorry. I hate to go." I muttered and walked off.

Merlin, I wanted to strangle Sirius. I hated the conflict between us because it meant I spent less time with the other Marauder's and even Lily. About halfway to the common room I came upon Nicole leaning against one of many stone walls. She looked upset. It seemed all we ever were was upset these days

"Hey." I greeted her softly.

"I could hear you two yelling from here." She grinned but it didn't hide how sad she was.

"If Black disappears tomorrow then you'll know I killed him." I laughed.

"It's Lupin. The guy I like." She said suddenly.

"Oh my god." I stopped walking and looked her in the face, "Remus?" I asked needing confirmation.

"Yeah."

"Trust me when I say he at least knows you exist. He's too nice to not at least know who you are." I said more to myself then to Nicole.

"God, the both of us have the worst luck with guys." Nicole laughed.

"I'm not interested in anyone." I said.

"You may not be but Black is interested in you." She said seriously, looking me in the eye. I was sure my mouth had just fallen open.

"I'm being serious. He's acting like an over-protective, jealous, possessive boyfriend."

I was still processing this. Nicole had a point and it was a correct one. The thing that had me thinking was whether or not I was interested in him, in that way. Did I like Sirius Black? His heart always seemed to be in the right place I guess. I wasn't a big fan of how much of a womanizer he was. Hell, he had been all ready to shag Marie Fischer in a broom closet today and he would of were it not for me. I had been told by Harry that his dad and Sirius had grown out of it during their seventh year but that hadn't happened yet. I mean, I hate it when Sirius and I fought. I didn't like it when he went out with other girls or bragged about being a ladies mean but did that mean I liked him in that way?

"Men! They're so simple it's complex! I think we need chocolate and butterbeer, Nikki. It's time we had a chat."

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**a/n: Sorry it's short but i figured something is better than nothing, right? I've started the next chapter so that shouldn't be too long. Wondering about what will happen with Nicole's feelings for Remus? Well you'll have to wait and see.**

**xXxVolpexXx**


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